Endorsed Project
Fiordland Dolphin Protection Project
Agency funded: University of Otago (Emily Williams)
Moana Mark endorses research into one of New Zealand’s most vulnerable groups of bottlenose dolphins, deep in the cold fjords of Fiordland, where too many calves do not survive their first year.
Did you know?
The population is small and closed, it does not mix with dolphins elsewhere, and if it is lost from Fiordland it cannot be replaced. Year after year, too many of its calves die young.
Why study Fiordland’s dolphins?
Fiordland’s bottlenose dolphins live further south, and in colder water, than almost any other bottlenose dolphins on Earth, and they are completely cut off from other populations.
How are they studied?
University of Otago researcher Emily Williams photo-identifies individual dolphins, tracks which groups use which parts of the fjords, and follows calves through their vulnerable first year to work out which are most at risk.
What does this research tell us?
By following named mothers and calves through the seasons, the work shows where and when calves are lost, and which conditions are stacked against them, from cold and the fjords’ freshwater layer to food and disturbance.
How does this help protect them?
Knowing why the calves are dying is the first step to protecting them, from managing boat traffic and disturbance to safeguarding the quiet, sheltered waters that mothers and calves depend on.
Help us protect Fiordland’s dolphin calves by keeping this fragile population under watch.
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