Locals and visitors in the Bay of Islands are being urged to report sightings of a rare dolphin after a solitary Hector’s or Māui dolphin was spotted in the Opua Channel.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) says the dolphin was seen in English Bay by researcher Jochen Zaeschmar of the Far Out Ocean Research Collective, who has been authorised to collect a DNA sample to confirm its species.
DOC marine species senior advisor Kristina Hillock said sightings of Hector's or Māui dolphins in this location were very rare.
"This would be just the second confirmed sighting of a Hector’s in Northland in 100 years."
Hector’s dolphins were once found along the coast of the South Island as well as parts of the North Island. Today, Hector’s dolphins were classified as nationally vulnerable and lived in different sub-populations around the South Island. They were only occasionally seen around the North Island.
The Māui dolphin was 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 was estimated just 54 adult Māui dolphins remain.
The two species were not easily distinguishable from each other without genetic analysis but appeared different than other dolphins.
Both Hector's and Māui dolphins were 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," was DOC’s message to the public on reporting on the species.
Any sightings should be reported to 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) or via the SeaSpotter app (available for download on the App Store and Google Play).
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