DOC is asking locals and visitors naturing in the Bay of Islands/Te Pēwhairangi to be on the lookout for a rare Hector’s or Māui dolphin currently navigating local waters, and to report it if observed.
A member of the public spotted the solitary dolphin this week in the Bay of Islands/Te Pēwhairangi Marine Sanctuary. DOC is currently trying to locate it to take a DNA sample to confirm which species it is.
DOC Marine Species Senior Advisor Kristina Hillock says sightings of Hector’s or Māui dolphins in this location are very rare. “This would be just the third confirmed sighting of a Hector’s in Northland in 100 years,” Kristina says.
Hector’s dolphins were once found along the coast of most of the South Island as well as parts of the North Island. Today, Hector’s dolphins are classified as nationally vulnerable and live in different sub-populations around the South Island. They are only occasionally seen around the North Island.
The Māui dolphin is a nationally critical subspecies of the Hector’s dolphin, which is found on the west coast of the North Island, mainly between Taranaki and Kaipara Harbour. It is estimated just 54 adult Māui dolphins remain.
The two dolphins are not easily distinguished from each other without genetic analysis but are readily identifiable from other dolphins. Both Hector’s and Māui dolphins are grey and white, with black markings and a distinctive black rounded fin, shaped like Mickey Mouse’s ear. “If the dolphin has a rounded fin, call it in,” is DOC’s message to the public on reporting on the species.
