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Black Cat Cruises / Supplied
Hector’s first dolphin pups of the season have been seen in Canterbury.
The sighting of two endangered newborn dolphins has prompted new calls for fishing restrictions on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula.
Patrons on a Black Cat Cruises tour passing through Akaroa Heads saw Hector’s baby dolphins, the first of the breeding season, on Sunday.
Crew member Dan Hitchcox said the pair were seen swimming alongside their mothers and appeared to be a week old at the most.
“Hector’s dolphins only give birth once every two to three years and are not marked or tracked, which makes the sighting very special for everyone on board.”
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New Zealand’s only endemic dolphins, Hector’s dolphins, are in danger of extinction, with 10,000 to 15,000 individuals remaining.
Its population has fallen about 74 percent in the last 30 years.
Black Cat Cruises president Paul Bingham said the biggest threat to Hector’s dolphins was being caught and drowned in nets, where fishermen throw nets to the ocean floor and return later to lift them.
Earlier this year, the Government announced increased protection for the native Hector and Māui dolphins as part of its review of the threat management plan.
Black Cat Cruises / Supplied
An endangered newborn dolphin rears its head near Akaroa.
The changes include a nationwide ban on driftnet fishing and trawl and trawl fishing around the west coast of the North Island and various parts of the South Island.
But Bingham said that while the changes were a step in the right direction, the “kill zone” near Akaroa required much-needed protection for Hector’s dolphins.
“We welcome the new extension of the marine mammal sanctuary, but do not believe it will go far enough to provide much needed fishing restrictions in the Banks Peninsula area.
“The new plan could create a worse situation for local dolphins by forcing fishermen out of the new proposed ban areas and into the kill zone.
“There is already a noticeable change, with the larger trawlers starting to operate.”
Bingham said his hope was that the government would follow through on his offer to consult more on the threat management plan, specifically on the extension of bans on fixed networks around the Banks Peninsula.
