Dolphins hit world news sites

The story of Kiwi and Pee-wee on Yahoo news in the US, with the adopted calf breastfeeding from Kiwi circled. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

The story of a Bay of Islands dolphin that adopted a calf of another species has gone global.

The Northern Advocate and Northland Age revealed last month that Kiwi, a bottlenose dolphin thought to have lost its own calf after becoming stranded in the Kerikeri Inlet five years ago, had adopted a common dolphin calf dubbed Pee-wee.

Kiwi was rescued but her calf was never seen again. She had not been seen with another baby until she was spotted with a common dolphin calf in January.

Proof that she was feeding the calf came when a Fullers dolphin boat crew member photographed Pee-wee suckling while swimming upside-down under Kiwi. The sighting was off Onewhero Bay, near Kent Passage. Marine mammal expert Jo "Floppy" Halliday said inter-species adoption among dolphins was not unheard of but it was extremely rare. The crew on board the boat were ecstatic, she said.

It was not understood how Kiwi could produce milk when she had not been pregnant, but Ms Halliday said dolphins might be able to "switch on" lactation at will.

Since the heart-warming story was first published in Northland media it had spread worldwide.

It was the top news story on the Yahoo news site in the US and featured in the UK-based Daily Mail Online, one of the world's most popular news websites, where it was shared more than 10,000 times.

The Daily Mail's version of the story was based on the original Northern Advocate article, though it confused the Fullers GreatSights dolphin-spotting catamaran Tangaroa with a Niwa research vessel of the same name.

Ms Halliday said she was "really rapt" with the story's worldwide coverage. She had also been contacted by a San Francisco-based National Geographic researcher, who had seen the story on the popular Facebook page of dolphin-trainer-turned-rescuer Ric O'Barry, where it had been shared just under 1000 times and liked more than 3000 times.

Kiwi and Pee-wee have also featured on the animal website thedodo.com, Discovery.com and the website One Green Planet.

Common dolphins are smaller than bottlenose dolphins but mature faster. They use different hunting strategies and target different prey. Apart from the size difference, they can be distinguished by their markings.

Common dolphins are not necessarily more common in the Bay of Islands but they are found worldwide.