Māui & Hector’s dolphin protection pledge
We’re building a nation of Dolphin Defenders. and every environmental NGO in Aotearoa-New Zealand should be Dolphin Defenders too.
We’re inviting eNGOs to sign on to our Māui & Hector’s dolphins protection pledge. As part of the pledge, they sign on to:
- Acknowledge that no Māui and Hector’s dolphins should be killed by the fishing industry
- Call on the Government to review the fisheries management provisions that allow trawl and set nets in Māui and Hector’s habitat
- Support protection for Māui and Hector’s dolphins from set and trawl net bycatch throughout their range – out to 20 nautical miles or 100m deep.
- Demand that this is backed up by legal protection through expanded onboard camera coverage and monitoring, compliance and enforcement.
- Actively support protection from other harmful practices in Māui and Hector’s habitat, like seabed mining, seismic testing, marine industrial activities like pile driving in the dolphins’ habitat, and support better management of harmful tourism and cruise ship practices.
- Advocate for Māui and Hector’s dolphins where appropriate, in your work, and refer to the key messages and facts based research provided by Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders.
- Adopt the Dolphin Defenders badge branding, and add it to related messaging and comms when referring to relevant material to amplify and emphasise the united cross-NGO front supporting Māui and Hector’s protection.
- Agree that the Government develop and implement a financial assistance package to support industry transition away from trawls and set nets in Māui and Hector’s habitat.
Save the Joy March 2025
Māui and Hector’s dolphins are a delight to share the world with. During our Protect Hector’s roadshow, we shared the joy in the stories of people’s encounters with Hector’s dolphins, and had our own too.
So while there was still summer in the air, we ran a couple of extra actions at Auckland’s West Coast beaches, to uplift spirits and share the joy about the dolphins that still live off our shores.
On March 29 and 30 we took upbeat beats of samba bands ‘Unidos de Aotearoa’ and ‘AK Samba’ to Muriwai and Piha beaches to engage local communities, encourage awareness and reporting of sightings and to enlist locals to help ‘Save the joy’.
The sun shone, the children and their families brought their hand made posters and signs, and people danced to the beats. At Piha we had reports of Māui dolphins offshore in the morning.
There was great joy and celebration of these special ocean dwellers, and that will keep us going through the depths of winter to come, and despite the struggles against hostile forces that see these precious dolphins as collateral damage from the fishing industry.
Join us to make some noise to #savethejoy
You can watch the video from our Muriwai and Piha save the joy events here
Protect Hector’s Roadshow 2025
In January and February 2025, Dolphin Defenders took to the road. We traveled around the East Coast of the South Island, visiting places where Hector’s dolphins are found - and lost. We raised awareness and honoured the dolphins killed by the fishing industry, and saw live Hector’s along the way
Over the two monthson the road, we were joined by local volunteers calling on the Government to protect Hector’s throughout their range. Thanks in particular to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society for support at events.
At beaches where dolphins have been killed by the fishing industry, we erected crosses to honour those 20 Hector’s killed since the start of the 2023 fishing year - which coincided with the roll out of cameras on boats and the election of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. That was one at Cloudy Bay, two killed in set nets off Kaikoura, including a heavily pregnant female and her unborn calf, six at Pegasus Bay, one in Banks Peninsula, two in Otago, eight off Timaru and another one later in Te Waewae bay.
We demonstrated against the fishing industry at the Motueka Talley’s fishing processing plant, outside Nelson Port, at Pegasus Fisheries in Lyttelton (where we saw a lone Hector’s dolphin in the harbour), in the Sanford and Talley’s valley of death in Timaru and outside Harbourfish in Dunedin (Harbourfish kill Hector’s).
We spoke to thousands of people and heard their stories and their love of Hector’s dolphins. We were supported by volunteers and the public wherever we went. We had amazing insights from fishers who told us of dolphins they’d killed and seen killed.
In Christchurch’s New Brighton, we installed 20 life sized dolphins killed in nets, because the Government says it’s ok for the fishing industry to kill that many in Canterbury every year alone, among at least 50 they say it’s ok to kill around the country every year. We had massive support from the public as the dolphins swam offshore.
The video from that event is here
They were among many Hector’s dolphins we saw delightfully off beaches and in the surf in locations around the coast, a reminder of how important our work is, and why the Government must protect Māui and Hector’s.
For more photos of our Protect Hector’s roadshow, check out the blog page for tails from the trail.
PM Christopher Luxon, protect Hector’s dolphins from the fishing industry!
On 14 September we launched a new campaign calling on the Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, to protect Hector’s dolphins from the fishing industry.
At least 19 dolphins have been killed by trawl and set nets since Luxon became Prime Minister.
No dolphins should be drowned in fishing nets.
PM Luxon, you must protect Māui and Hector’s throughout their range - out to at least 20 nautical miles and 100 meters depth.
Before it is too late!
Our campaign launch video is here
March for Māui and Hector’s
Hundreds of people marched on the Prime Minister’s office in Kumeu, calling for better protection for Māui and Hector’s at a rally we organised in 2014.
By-catch of the day
This really effective campaign in 2015 highlighted the link between fish and chips, and dolphin by-catch.
Billboard
Working with surfers who love sharing the ocean with Māui dolphins, we installed a massive billboard on the side of State Highway One on Auckland’s North Shore. It raised awareness of Māui & Hector’s dolphins and the risks of sea bed mining.
KASM
We’ve worked with Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) in opposition to deep sea mineral extraction in West Coast North Island dolphin habitat. That’s involved making and presenting submissions to the Environmental Protection Agency at various times through the years. We’ve supported KASM at events, blockades of the mining industry, peaceful protests and beachside activism.
Science
With the help of Waitakere Ranges Local Board and other funders we facilitated research establishing the proof of concept using thermal imaging to detect Māui and Hector’s Dolphins. That involved heading out onto the North Island’s west coast to look for (and find) Māui dolphins confirming the use of thermal imaging to correctly identify the dolphins.
Tributes
In 2018 after five dolphins were killed in a short space of time, we held a Tribute for Māui and Hector’s dolphins on a local beach. We carried a life sized dolphin in a coffin down to the beach and Dolphin Defenders and the public laid flowers and honoured those lost to set and trawl nets.
Lyttelton Pile Driving
A new cruise ship terminal was developed in Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula, in the South Island, an important home for Hector’s dolphins. Our local campaigner on the ground, Genevieve, worked hard to raise awareness and get the dolphins safe.
Voter’s Guide
Before the 2017 election, we commissioned research into different political parties’ policy positions on Māui and Hector’s dolphins. Labour, Greens and New Zealand First, all performed well on their policies, and formed a Coalition Government. But after the election they cancelled the previous Government’s plans to install cameras on fishing vessels.
However, our work did lead to an eventual increase in protection all along the North Island west coast from set nets, and extended set net bans in the South Island too. Cameras were also rolled out onto boats at the end of the Labour Government’s second term.