The New Zealand government has regulated Bay of Islands excursions to protect dolphins disturbed by human activities
The New Zealand government has banned tourists and residents from swimming with dolphins in order to protect the species. The ban affects the tour operators who operate in the Bay of Islands, north of the country, who organize excursions to allow visitors to swim with bottlenose dolphins.
In this area, dolphins prefer to swim in the coastal regions and this allows tourists to get close to animals and interact with them.
According to research by the Department of Conservation, the state agency for environmental protection:
"Loving dolphins too much has had a significant impact on the resting and feeding behavior of the population."
The interaction between humans and dolphins has indeed led to one worrying decrease in the number of specimens president in the Bay of Islands, equal to 90%.
Today the dolphins present in this region are only 31, against the 250 present in 1999 and the mortality rate among newborns is 75%, the highest in the country.
To protect the Tursiops truncatus, the government has therefore decided to regulate visits to this region, banning tourists from swimming with dolphins and limiting interactions with animals to 20 minutes instead of the previously expected 30.
Furthermore, excursions can only take place at certain times, so as to allow the dolphins to remain alone and quiet for most of the day.
Unfortunately the ban will not affect other areas of New Zealand, where tourists will still be able to hike and swim with dolphins belonging to species other than Tursiops truncatus but equally disturbed by human activity.
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Tatiana Maselli
