My job: Chasing dolphins a swell career

Passengers on the Tutunui watch as a dolphin swims in front of them. Photo / Supplied

Name: Jo "Floppy" Halliday.
Age: 46 "but thankfully the dolphins make me feel a lot younger".
Role: Resident "Dolphinologist".
Employer: Fullers GreatSights
Hours: 7am to 5.30pm/6pm summer but winter 7.45am to 5.30pm.
Salary: Crew starting rate is around $14-plus an hour plus allowances.

Describe your job.

Dolphinologist is a play on words that our skippers like to use because I'm not a marine biologist but a very good "know-it-all"!

I've been with Fullers for 20 years. I started on vessels that took trips to the Hole in the Rock and the world famous Cream Trip.

In 1993 Tutunui, a 13m catamaran which takes 35 passengers, was introduced to the fleet. It took a few months of nagging but I managed to spend a fair amount of my rostered days on her. Tutunui is jet-powered which makes it safe for the dolphins. It is low to the water which makes it great to be up close with dolphins.

What happens on a trip?

We don't have a set plan, we just head out to see what we can find. During the early days finding dolphins could be tricky. Through time, research discovered that bottlenose dolphin that we see in the Bay of Islands can also be seen in Auckland, the Coromandel and Cape Reinga.

There are more than 400 dolphins that can be identified - some we see once in a while, others we see regularly. I pretty much know which dolphin it is by looking at the dorsal fin on its back. The dolphins end up with nicks and cuts - some from biting each other and some from chasing fish around the rocks.

What do you educate the passengers about?

The Department of Conservation issues us with a permit to commercially be with dolphins. Regulations include things as simple as not being able to swim with juveniles.

The reason is that dolphins have the same body temperature as us - 37C - and when you're a little baby you need to build up your fat levels quickly to cope with living in the ocean. Getting too far from mum leaves a young dolphin in a vulnerable position ... being attacked by a shark, possibly.

Education is part of our permit, but I believe it makes a difference to the wildlife as people give them more respect these days compared to even 10 years ago.

I also get a kick out of pointing out the difference in life span in the wild versus captivity. Dolphins are at high risk when manhandled and their life is drastically shorter.

During winter, the dolphin trips are combined with the Hole in the Rock on a larger vessel, the Dolphin Seeker, with the normal Tutunui routine resuming from October.

However, amazing encounters can happen in winter and swimming is better because there is less boat traffic. The down side, of course, is the 14C water temperature.

Your background?

I grew up in the Bay of Islands and moved to Christchurch in the 1980s to work as a fight attendant.

When I moved back to the bay and started working for Fullers, one of my skippers on Tutunui, Steve Whitehouse, who has started a Marine Mammal Rescue Service in Australia, introduced me to the world of whales and dolphins. He had had a big part in designing whale rescue gear.

Over the years I have taken part in the rescue of whales and dolphins in Northland with him, and Dr Ingrid Visser of Orca Research.

The more you understand, the harder it is to walk away. I would almost do this job for nothing.

What skills/training do you need?

My job would be great for a marine biologist, but it's not totally necessary to have a degree. I think if you love nature and want to protect welfare of animals as well, then you're halfway there. I talk a lot so I suppose that's helped, too.

Do you have favourite dolphins?

That's hard to answer because they're all special. I have a couple of big boys that I see regularly, Three-prong and Kermit, both close to 4m in length and hefty. They both have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude ... very cool dudes.

Many years back we had a semi-resident dolphin called Quazi, he had scoliosis - curvature of the spine. He got around fine but he was a bit slower than your average dolphin. He had a mate called the Minder and we would see Minder catch fish and pass it for Quazi to eat. It's incredible how they look after each other.

We haven't seen either of them for close on 10 years. I suspect they may have met their end to an Orca attack? The sad part is that if you don't see a dolphin for a year or more, most likely its life has ended.

Do people call you Jo or Floppy?

I'm mostly known by the nickname. A few years ago some of the crew named a young dolphin after me.

What do you enjoy most about the job?

The dolphins - I never take them for granted. But I do sometimes forget that some of my passengers are looking at dolphins for the first time and it's the emotional reactions that I get such a buzz from.

I've seen tears well up in a grown man's eyes. That's how I know I'm in a special job.

Any downsides?

The downside is, thankfully not often, finding marine animals entangled in rope, fishing line and other debris carelessly left on our shoreline and in our waters.

I guess that is part of the challenge for me, to educate people to help look after our little corner of the world.

Advice to someone interested in similar work?

You need patience and understanding, mainly for dealing with wild animals. Being able to contend with bad sea conditions will also help.