How You Can Help

You Can Help

Maui's and Hector's Dolphins need your help, but you can make a difference.
Things you can do:

Write a letter to the Ministers of Fisheries and Conservation calling on them to:

• Implement a set net ban using the precautionary approach, to cover Maui's full range including harbours and estuaries, or
• Implement a national set net ban to protect Maui's and Hector's Dolphins
• Exclude trawlers from Maui's and Hector's habitat
• Put in place a marine mammal sanctuary to protect Maui's from a wide range of threats
• Put in place a species recovery plan to ensure the species is helped to recover

Draw a picture of a Maui's or Hector's Dolphin and send it to the Minister of Fisheries with your name and address on the back. Remember letters to the Ministers are free, C/- Parliament Buildings Wellington.

Write to your local MP, Councillor or the Prime Minister

Get signatures on a petition calling for Maui's and Hector's protection

Talk to your friends and family about the plight of Maui's and Hector's Dolphins

What's the Matter with Maui's?

The North Island Hector’s dolphin or Maui’s dolphin has a population of about 111 animals. It is a subspecies of the Hector’s dolphin which is dispersed around the South Island and has a population of about 7000. Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins have declined from a population of about 30,000 dolphins since the 1970s. Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins are the world’s smallest and rarest marine dolphin. The most significant cause of death is by drowning in nets. Because of their low populations they are also vulnerable to threats from pollution, boat strike and disease.

In the last three years over 50 Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins have been found dead, sometimes involving whole family groups killed in a single net. Most often, bodies are seriously decomposed when found, but with an additional loss of about 11 Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins this season, public and political attention should be focussed on their march toward extinction. The status of Maui’s dolphins particularly, has to be changed urgently.