A dolphin named Moko may be New Zealand's most heroic mammal this week after he came to the aid of two stranded whales. Indeed, Moko accomplished something rescue workers had unsuccessfully been attempting to do for over an hour, when he swam up to the stranded mother and calf and guided them to back to the open waters of the sea.

The whales had already stranded themselves four times and some rescuers including Malcolm Smith, a Conservation Department employee, were talking about the possibility of euthanizing them to avoid allowing them to suffer a prolonged death.

"They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea."

Moko then appeared and proceeded to lead the whales though a channel and over 200 yards to safety. Though experts say dolphins are known to come to the rescue of stranded humans, many hadn't yet heard of cases where they assisted other species.

There is no word yet if Moko plans to don a red cape and blue tights yet, but conservation employees aren't giving up hope just yet.

» MSNBC Environment