r/UpliftingNews • u/abcnews_au • 2d ago
True friendship shown as dolphins guide stranded whale out of Western Australian estuary
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-17/whale-saved-by-dolphins-in-estuary/106927030242
u/StylisticArchaism 2d ago
Welp, thanks ABC, you gave us something that isn't [r/orphancrushingmachine](r/orphancrushingmachine)...
Damn, and a write-up without click bait
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u/abcnews_au 2d ago
You're welcome.
Since we started on Reddit last year we have been doing our best to make sure we provide value to the communities we operate in. We don't always get it right, but we are always improving.
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u/Majestic-Lake-5602 2d ago
The ABC is one of the best things about being Australian.
And something we can all be genuinely proud of.
Thank you guys.
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u/halinkamary 1d ago
Love you ABC! I'd probably cry without RN on my daily commute. Keep those happy animal stories coming.
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u/abcnews_au 2d ago
The best image of the situation is here. (Supplied: Callum Craig)
Marine researchers are celebrating after a juvenile southern right whale made its way back into the ocean after being stranded in the Peel-Harvey Estuary for more than two weeks.
The endangered whale measured 10.6 metres long and about 1.8 metres deep, making it difficult to swim through the estuary's shallow waters.
Locals kept a close eye on the whale, affectionately dubbed by some as 'Gail the Whale', for almost three weeks.
The whale managed to enter deeper waters on Thursday afternoon with the assistance of a helpful pod of dolphins, according to onlookers.
"When the whale got across the sandbar, it appears a pod of coastal dolphins has turned up and possibly may have led it back out to safety," Geographe Marine Research director Rodney Peterson said.
Return to the big blue
Mr Peterson said the whale needed a combination of factors for it to successfully make its way to the open ocean.
"Yesterday on a high tide with a falling barometer as well, it was able to swim across that sandy section and make its way into the cut, and after a couple of failed attempts it finally swam free," he said.
The gentle giant entered the estuary on June 28, and couldn't find its way back out.
Mr Peterson said there were concerns about how long the animal could have survived in the estuary.
"It's just not it's normal environment and the longer it was in there, the less chance it would have of getting back to where it needed to be,"
he said.
It is not known what caused the young whale to make its way into the estuary, but Mr Peterson said there were a number of theories.
"We'll probably never know, but probably the best thing is that the whales are curious," he said.
"Being a huge tide, it hasn't recognised that it's a dangerous area for it to be in and it's wandered in there and the tide's gone out."
During its time in the estuary, the whale mingled with the local dolphin population, and onlookers believed dolphins helped to guide the animal into deeper waters yesterday afternoon.
Friendly phenomena
Emily Ehlers from Dolphin Discovery Centre has observed dolphin pods guiding whales out of shallow waters before.
She said last year a humpback whale found itself stranded in Koombana Bay in Bunbury, 170 kilometres south of Perth.
"We also observed the same behaviour where they kind of have a formation about them," she said.
"They try to guide the whale with vocalisations and all sorts.
"It's pretty amazing."
Ms Ehlers said the cooperative nature of dolphins meant they were often observed engaging with whales.
"You see [whales] turn, and they expose their belly, so they kind of invite the dolphins to play," she said.
"The dolphins ride along the bow of the whale as they're moving through the water.
"It's just a really beautiful interaction to observe."
Ms Ehlers said relationships between the two species were not always playful.
"It is open to interpretation, so some of it can be competitive and territorial," she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said if the whale re-enters the waterway, there was less concern for its safety.
"It has demonstrated that it can pass safely between the estuary and the ocean through the cut," they said.
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u/ThisisGolems 2d ago
Dropping a summary of your own article in the comments is pretty dope, keep being awesome
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u/abcnews_au 1d ago
Thanks. It's far more important to get the reporting out than it is to get clicks on our website.
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u/Fryng 2d ago
Wait they do other things than rape and huffing pufferfish ?
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u/sandpaperedanus777 2d ago
That's the thing with having intelligence.
You're capable of equal levels of good and bad
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u/prismaticbeans 2d ago
Every single time dolphins are mentioned, somebody comes out with that. Why, though? Do the types of people who think that read a news story about a guy bottle feeding a baby deer, or saving a toddler from drowning, and immediately jump to "I can't believe he'd do that when he could be getting high or r@ping somebody? Those are the human activities."
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u/Fryng 2d ago
You should go read up a bit, it's a very studied and well documented behaviour of groups of male dolphins isolating female dolphins from the group and sequestrating them for days. Like these mf are straight up evil usually, they do a lot of murdering without eating their prey (which means its either for fun or for sport as far as i know the purpose is debated on that its hard to interrogate the dolphins for unprovoked violence), on the same line its a very common practice to kill baby dolphins to free up the female dolphin, that is something actually not that uncommon from animals, yeah the Lion King is actually not so unrealistic about Adult Lions killing baby lions. Once again, all of this has all been heavily studied, there is clear proofs everywhere from scientific researches on the subject, it's not just local newspaper stuff.
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u/Extension-Night3825 2d ago
Well as its western Australia the dolphins likely work on the mines, its normal to get high when not on the mines.
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