www.jeffthefish.com

I guess by now everyone has heard about Moko the dolphin down in Ray Comfort’s hometown, New Zealand. Some dudes were all trying to rescue two pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps: what an awesome animal), when all of a sudden, here comes Moko. She says a few words to the whales, and they follow her out to sea.

So now everyone’s like, “WOW DOLFINZ R SO SMART”, but I think there’s more (or maybe less) going on here than meets the eye. As I so eloquently stated over on Skepchick:

Here’s the thing: my mother LITERALLY believes that dogs and cats can understand English.

Once, while driving she passed a dog running in the street. She stopped, rolled down her window, and said to the dog, “Go home!” and drove away. I said, “Dearest Mother, canines comprehend not such lofty terms.” “Yes they do,” she responded.

She used to say to her cat, “If you come and sit on my lap, I’ll give you some food.” And he would sit on her lap.

But come on. She probably had the food waiting for him, and he came for the food, which happened to be on her lap. But try convincing her of that.

So I think there may be a similar, but less obvious, explanation for this. I just have no idea what it could be.

Or maybe the ocean is a giant water cooler populated by chatty Kathies. ‘Evs.

Welp, turns out I’m not the only skeptic! I think people are quick to take these stories at face value, because come on! How cool would it be! But it would also be cool if Caridina multidentata could reproduce in freshwater, but no rational person believes that, right?

Stumble it!

Posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 in Category Funs. Please comment, ok?