{"id":272,"date":"2006-05-20T04:27:52","date_gmt":"2006-05-20T04:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lynngoya.com\/?p=272"},"modified":"2022-01-05T04:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T04:53:58","slug":"too-much-love-is-killing-dolphins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lynngoya.com\/index.php\/2006\/05\/20\/too-much-love-is-killing-dolphins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Wild Dolphins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The problem with dolphins is that they are not whales.\u00a0 Because they aren\u2019t and never have been considered endangered, they lack protections that other cetaceans enjoy through the Marine Mammal Protection Act.\u00a0 Until recently the only human threat to wild dolphins was their unintentional capture in tuna nets and their kidnapping for captive dolphin swim and clandestine defense programs.\u00a0 But the current euphoria over swimming with wild dolphins in once-isolated Hawaiian bays appears to reflect a worldwide surge in frolic with dolphin \u201ceco-tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four years ago an isolated bay on Oahu had six dolphin watching tours; last year the same bay hosted fifteen tour boat companies that were each carting groups of about 20 snorkelers to dump into the midst of a single spinner dolphin pod.\u00a0\u00a0 Add about 15 kayaks from another tour company and a napping bay for dolphins turns into a Friday night frat party \u2013 with about the same amount of decorum.<\/p>\n

When a dolphin is spotted, boats converge, trying to intercept moving pods or drop their guests into the midst of stationary pods.\u00a0 There are reports of a tour company off the Big Island that employs kayakers to herd dolphins toward customers.\u00a0 As boatloads of tourists move in, it appears that dolphins and other sea life move out. Fishermen report that their catches have dropped dramatically, putting their livelihood in jeopardy, even as they dodge \u201ceco-tour\u201d boats.<\/p>\n

The reason tour companies can offer dolphin swim programs is because dolphins are predictable.\u00a0 Each night they swim hundreds of miles to forage for squid and small fish, then return at daybreak to a handful of shallow, sandy-bottomed bays and inlets around the Islands to sleep and reenergize \u2013 safe bays that allow dolphins to keep an eye out for marauding sharks.<\/p>\n

It is the \u201cabsurdity of programs\u201d as well as the increasing volume and intrusiveness of the swimmers that disturbs Peter T. Young, Director for Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources.\u00a0 Programs advertise spiritual communion, healing, and other touchy feeling interspecies exchanges, as well as the lure of interspecies bonding. The most outrageous was a request to start a birthing service with dolphins.\u00a0 \u201cNot only is that a safety hazard to humans, it has an obvious impact on the dolphins.\u201d\u00a0 Sharks and dolphins commonly occupy the same waters and those unscripted, and blessedly infrequent, interactions have also been documented.\u00a0 Last year, \u201cas people were in a boat looking down,\u201d says Young, \u201ca shark came up through middle of a pod with one of the baby dolphins in it mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that no single agency has jurisdiction to implement specific programs, although, Young says that the state has been told in \u201cno uncertain terms\u201d that cetacean protection is a federal issue.\u00a0 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries is in charge of coastal waters and cetacean viewing guidelines and on June 16, 2005 NOAA resubmitted the Marine Mammal Protection Act to Congress for reauthorization, along with recommendations for changes to key provisions strengthening enforcement and clarifying \u201charassment.\u201d\u00a0 Although scheduled for review every five years, it was last amended in 1994, well before swim with dolphin programs were really an issue.\u00a0 Connie Barclay, NOAA Fishery agreed that at the last annual meeting of the Marine Mammal Commission \u201cthe topic of spinner dolphins was big.\u201d\u00a0 In mid-May at the NOAA Fisheries meeting of this year in Houston, Young again sought help from individuals within the federal agencies.\u00a0 We are trying to get all of the different agencies together, said Young.<\/p>\n