Making Waves

The chances of Maui dolphin avoiding extinction have just got even worse. It was bad enough already, but the latest population estimate shows that there are now fewer than 50 Maui dolphins left in the World. Meanwhile, the Ministry for Primary Industries has just increased the quotas for gillnet and trawl fisheries in Maui dolphin habitat and New … Read More

Professor Steve Dawson Scientists from the University of Otago, working with colleagues from around the world, have found that New Zealand right whales are doing much better than right whales in other parts of the world. The research was published as the feature article in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Southern right whales are starting … Read More

Prof Elisabeth Slooten, Prof Steve Dawson This has been a terrible summer for Hector’s dolphins. The first indication was very low numbers of dolphin sightings during late spring and early summer. The Otago University Marine Mammal Research Team has carried out routine dolphin surveys at Banks Peninsula for more than 30 years. In all that time, we have never seen … Read More

Professor Liz Slooten and Professor Steve Dawson, University of Otago The recently released Threat Management Plan for Hector’s and Maui dolphins presents government’s proposals for better protection from entanglement in fishing nets and other threats. Better options than any in the Threat Management Plan have been recommended by New Zealand and international experts. Worse options have been proposed by … Read More

Elisabeth Slooten and Steve Dawson The New Zealand government recently proposed a plan to manage what it considers to be threats to Hector’s dolphins, an endemic species found only in coastal waters. This includes the North Island subspecies Māui dolphin. Māui dolphins are critically endangered and Hector’s dolphins are endangered. With only an estimated 57 Māui dolphins left, … Read More

Professor Steve Dawson, Professor Liz Slooten, Associate Professor Bruce Robertson The Department of Conservation (DOC) has downgraded the threat status of the New Zealand sea lion and New Zealand (Hector’s) dolphin. NZ sea lion has changed from “Nationally Critical” (the same category as the kākāpō) to “Nationally Vulnerable” based on “actual improvement”. The problem is, the available data do … Read More