Census will assess threatened dolphin

A Maui's dolphin. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

A new attempt to count Maui's dolphins off the west coast of the North Island is to start next month.

The Department of Conservation's last estimates in 2004 found that there were only 111 of the world's smallest dolphins left.

"DoC suspects it will be a bit lower," said Phillip Brown, manager of the department's newly formed Maui's dolphin recovery group in Auckland.

He said completing the count over two years would give a comparison before and after controversial regulations which banned set netting within four nautical miles of the coast from north of Dargaville to south Taranaki and part of Manukau Harbour.

Fishing was regarded as the biggest threat to the critically endangered dolphin and one that could be controlled.

Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook, in an interim decision on the Kaipara Harbour tidal power generation case, said he was surprised that, compared with studies of the endangered bird kakapo, "the department has not yet pursued protection of Maui's dolphin with greater vigour".

His comments were backed yesterday by Dr Liz Slooten, an associate professor of Otago University, and an expert on Maui's and Hector's dolphins. "Maui's dolphin is about as rare as kakapo, so you'd expect people would not take kindly to putting turbines where Maui's dolphins will interact with them," she said.

"It's like building a hotel on Codfish Island [the kakapo reserve]. No way would they get permission to do that."

Andrew McGillivray, who objects to the turbine project, said: "Maui's dolphin is not something like the kakapo ... it cannot get into the hearts and minds of the public and become a priority, because people don't have the opportunity to see it out there.

"But if they did they would say 'wow, you'd want to protect it'.

"I've seen it and it's a magnificent creature, quirky and has a cuddly look about it. It's a pigmy dolphin with rounded dorsal fins and beak. A bit like a mini orca."

Auckland Regional Councillor Christine Rose said the department was looking at how it could help the species to recover. "But times goes on and not enough work has been done ... it's untenable that in part of its habitat range it is unprotected."

Mr Brown said Maui's dolphin was hard to protect compared to the kakapo, of which 124 survive.

"You can't put them on a predator-free island so they won't be eaten.

"We can't do that because great white sharks are still out there. "