Malcolm Smith, field office supervisor at the Conservation Department's Wairoa office, said the young female bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Moko, communicated somehow with the two whales and led them away from the Mahia Peninsula, The Dominion Post reported Thursday.

"She communicated in some way with the two whales, escorted them along the beach and a right-angle turn into the channel, and we haven't seen the whales since," Smith said. "It is very hard to put a scientific explanation behind it all. I have never heard of anything like that happening anywhere in the world."

Smith said Moko had often been sighted playing with swimmers around area beaches.