Whanganui sightings of Maui dolphins wanted

WWF's Amanda Leathers and David Tong want help for the critically endangered Māui dolphin. Photo/Stuart Munro

Māui dolphin sightings are rare on the Whanganui coast - but that's why they are so important, two WWF staff members say.

The world's smallest and rarest dolphin is found from Dargaville to Whanganui on the west coast of the North Island, from inshore to depths of 100m.

WWF campaigner David Tong and researcher Amanda Leathers were in Whanganui last Thursday to talk about them.

The dolphins are much more commonly spotted, and surveyed, off the Auckland and Waikato coasts. That's why sightings here are so important.

Māui dolphins' most distinctive feature is their rounded "Micky Mouse ear" dorsal fin.

Sightings can be reported by ringing 0800 4MAUIS, on the WWF website or by using an app that will give their exact location. Photographs are especially useful, to verify the dolphins are Māui.

Ms Leathers and Mr Tong were on the fourth of their organisation's regular trips down the west coast to publicise the dolphins' plight. They talked to boaties and surf clubs about past sightings, and asked them to report new ones.

None of those they talked to could report a new sighting - but two have been reported to the Conservation Department during the year, one in the South Taranaki Bight and another off New Plymouth.

There are a known 63 adult Māui dolphins left in the world and the Labour-led Government has pledged to give them more protection.

They are mainly threatened by set-netting and trawling. Only 30 per cent of their habitat is protected from set-netting, and only 8 per cent is protected from both set-netting and trawl netting.

There is no protection for them on the Whanganui coast, and seismic blasting and sand mining are new threats to them.

WWF wants the Government to help the fishing industry transition to dolphin-safe fishing methods. The cost would be $26 million - one thirtieth of 1 per cent of the Government's budget, Ms Leathers said.

MĀUI DOLPHINS
- only 1.2m to 1.4m long
- distinctive rounded dorsal fin
- 63 adults left
- one death at hands of humans every seven years
- related to South Island Hector's dolphins