SailGP chief executive Sir Russell Coutts has disputed the endangered status of Hector’s dolphins whose presence on the course cancelled racing on Lyttelton Harbour yesterday.
In a fiery statement this afternoon, Coutts hit out at the “extreme” marine mammal management plan "forced upon" SailGP and said New Zealand was "handcuffed" by bureaucracy and red tape.
"SailGP operates all over the world and, no doubt there are marine mammals in the water in all of the locations we race. We’ve never had an incident in 35 events.
Chief Executive Sir Russell Coutts lashes out at officials even as the races were getting underway. (Source: 1News)
"Our people and our athletes care deeply about marine conservation.
“In addition to our normal marine mammal protocols, SailGP has had this extreme marine mammal management plan forced upon us in Lyttelton, demanded by the Department of Conservation, Ecan [Environment Canterbury] and Ngāti Wheke for this event.
"Otherwise, SailGP would not be permitted to race.”
Protocol demanded that racing was stopped when a dolphin was sighted near the racecourse and would not resume until at least 20 minutes have passed since the animal was last seen within the shutdown zone.
Department of Conservation: SailGP chose the location
The Department of Conservation said it was a “legal requirement” for all SailGP vessels and people to abide by legislation directing behaviour.
Deputy-director general operations Henry Weston said the department provided feedback and advice on the race organisers’ marine mammal management plan but it did not have a role in implementing it.
"We have staff at the event, including a vessel on the water, who are prepared to respond if an incident involving a marine mammal was to occur," he said.
Weston said SailGP chose to hold its event in a marine mammal sanctuary – a decision he said was made with the full knowledge that protection of the dolphins from boats would be "paramount".
"At this time of year, mothers and calves are present in the harbour and calves have been seen on the course this weekend. Newborn calves and young animals are vulnerable to boat strike as they are less aware of risk, spend more time on the surface and dive more slowly than mature dolphins."
Racing was cancelled on the opening day of the SailGP series in Christchurch's Lyttelton Harbour on Saturday after "prolonged mammal activity" on the racecourse.
A statement from the event organisers said: "As racing was due to start at 3pm local time, confirmation was received of a dolphin sighting on the racecourse.
"In line with SailGP protocol, racing was delayed to allow the dolphin to pass through safely but unfortunately it did not move outside the race course area, meaning that racing could not take place."
Harbourmaster: 'SailGP could have learned from last year'
The Harbourmaster's Office said it had a responsibility to mitigate risk to everyone on the water and that the location of the SailGP race made this particularly complex.
"Race plans and approvals are rigorous to ensure the safety of people and vessels," a spokesperson said, in a statement provided to 1News.
"SailGP race organisers could have used last year’s experience to plan for such an eventuality around race delays due to dolphins or for other reasons. i.e: they could have proactively applied in their application to set the Sunday up like this just in case Saturday was compromised. They did not."
A day after SailGP chief Sir Russell warned the harbour would not host the series again, marine mammals moved in to prove his point. (Source: 1News)
The Harbourmaster said there was a request from race organisers to move Sunday's race start time to 11am, which was "not possible due to insufficient time to ensure on-water safety."
A 1.30pm start time was approved by the Harbourmaster's Office but SailGP decided to stick with 3pm, the statement said.
Coutts said — in his experience on the ocean — dolphins were “extremely intelligent mammals” and "inherently aware” of boats around them.
“The Hector’s dolphin is not an endangered species,” he said.
The Department of Conservation website placed the conservation status of the Hector’s dolphin at "nationally vulnerable", meaning that they were at a "high risk of extinction in the medium term".
For comparison, a species set at a "nationally endangered" conservation status faced "high risk of extinction in the short term".
There were estimated to be around 15,000 adult Hector’s dolphins, DOC said.
Iwi: 'SailGP knew what it had signed up for'
Chair of Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke Mishele Radford said the iwi would have loved to have seen racing happen, while ensuring the protection of Hector's dolphins.
"SailGP knew what they signed up for when they decided to hold the event within a marine mammal sanctuary."
Radford added that Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke had input into the revised Marine Mammal Management Plan.
"We do not have a role in implementing the MMMP."
ChristchurchNZ general manager destination and attraction Loren Aberhart said the city was proud to have pulled together the event with 12 weeks notice.
"We all want SailGP to succeed in our city and to be able to race while also protecting our native species."
Coutts said SailGP was facing mandatory services not required or demanded anywhere else in the world, putting the costs from those "unrequired services" at about $300,000.
Eleven dolphin observers — part of a programme totalling $78,000 — were required to be on site from Thursday despite a reduction in practice to just 11 minutes on that day by the harbourmaster.
"These are costs and services that SailGP doesn’t face anywhere else in the world," said Coutts.
"There are a lot of considerations in managing an event like this yet almost none of those are not being properly considered by the environmental and harbour authorities here in Christchurch."
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