Can we pull Maui's dolphins from the brink of extinction?
The world鈥檚 smallest and rarest dolphin species is on the verge of extinction.
New research suggests that the population of Maui鈥檚 dolphin, native to the waters off New Zealand's North Island, has fallen to an all-time low of fewer than 50 individuals, with only 10 to 12 breeding females left. Scientists and conservationists are once again urging the New Zealand government to expand measures to prevent dolphins from dying in fishing nets 鈥� the main reason the population has declined by 97 percent since the 1970s, .
"It's a wake-up call, it's shocking," says Dr. Barbara Maas, NABU's head of endangered species conservation. The new figures, she adds, are a result of what she says is the New Zealand government's inadequate management response to what scientific research has for years been urging it to do.
鈥淣ew Zealand has to abandon its current stance, which places the interests of the fishing industry above biodiversity conservation, and finally protect the dolphins鈥� habitat from harmful fishing nets, seismic airgun blasts, and oil and gas extraction,鈥� Dr. Maas聽.
Otherwise, the dolphin鈥檚 extinction would be 鈥渁 matter of when, not if,鈥� she told the British news service.
Maui鈥檚 dolphin, scientific name Cephalorhynchus hectori maui, is a subspecies of Hector鈥檚 dolphin and is found in coastal waters up to a depth of 100 meters on the west side of New Zealand鈥檚 North Island. Solidly built, with a sloping snout and a rounded, or 鈥渕ickey mouse shaped,鈥� dorsal fin, the dolphin is the smallest in the world, measuring about 4 to 5 feet in length and weighing a little over 100 pounds as an adult, .
Females have a low reproductive rate, breeding just fast enough to replace those dolphins that die naturally 鈥� which explains why the species is struggling to recover from human-induced deaths, the WWF noted. In 2013, the species was listed as by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Today, Maas estimates there are 43 to 47 individuals, a distinct drop from 59 dolphins in 2010.聽
If allowed to become extinct, she says, Maui's dolphin would mean the loss of an important predator in the local ecosystem, which would affect the rest of the food chain.
鈥淢aui's dolphins ... are building blocks of biodiversity," Maas says. "They are not ornaments that are just there and can be removed.鈥澛�
Maui鈥檚 dolphin faces a number of risks, including pollution, tourist activity, and seismic testing, conservationists have said. The last has been heavily debated by marine mammal advocates and oil and gas companies, who employ seismic surveys to determine whether oil and gas reservoirs exist beneath the ocean floor.
Groups such as the have said that their methods are tested and regulated, and do little, if any, harm to the environment. Conservationists, on the other hand, that seismic testing causes temporary or permanent hearing loss in dolphins, which in turn leads to stranding or death.
But the biggest problem Maui鈥檚 dolphin faces are trawl fishing and gillnetting, both popular commercial and recreational enterprises in New Zealand. These activities employ large, fine nets to trap fish 鈥� nets responsible for more than 95 percent of Maui鈥檚 dolphin mortalities, according to by a panel of experts appointed by the New Zealand government.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very fine nylon mesh, and the dolphins can鈥檛 detect this net, so they get tangled in it and drown,鈥� Milena Palka, a marine advocate for WWF New Zealand, .
In response to the Maui鈥檚 dolphin crisis, the New Zealand government in 2007 developed the , which sought to restrict the movement of commercial and tourist vessels and to establish sanctuaries in the species鈥� natural habitat. The plan would bolster New Zealand鈥檚 , which gave the country鈥檚 Department of Conservation the mandate to protect and administer marine mammals and their sanctuaries.
Critics, however, have said that the government鈥檚 efforts are inadequate.
In her latest study, to be presented at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee meeting in San Diego this week, Maas wrote that New Zealand had promised to increase conservation efforts in response to last year's IWC recommendations. The committee had urged the government to聽expand protected waters, ban trawl fishing and gillnetting throughout the species鈥� habitat, and commit to specific timelines and targets with regards to the dolphin鈥檚 conservation.
鈥淭he committee reiterates its extreme concern about the continued decline of such a small population as the human-induced death of even one dolphin would increase the extinction risk for this subspecies,鈥� according to the IWC.聽
But the dolphins' continued decline reveals a lack of political will on the part of the New Zealand government, and represents the problem that conservation as an issue faces on a global scale, Maas says. It says much about humans as a species if,聽in a country like New Zealand,聽we can't save as charismatic an animal as the dolphin even after decades of research telling us what to do, she adds.
She compares the survival of the world's ecosystems to the block game Jenga: 鈥淲e pull out one, we pull out another ... eventually, we crash.鈥�
The deadline for the dolphins鈥� extinction has been debated, but NABU, the German conservation group, has said that if the status quo is maintained, the species could be gone by 2031. If concrete steps are taken, however, and human-caused deaths are cut to zero, the dolphins鈥� numbers could be up to 500 individuals within about 90 years.
鈥淭hey are not doomed to extinction,鈥� Dr. Maas . 鈥淕enetic variability is still high [and] they can bounce back, but saving them is a race against time.鈥�
