The SailGP Marine Mammal Management Plan (MMMP) released late last week is a farce, say advocates.

“Hector’s dolphins are in crisis” says Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders Chair, Christine Rose.

47 Hector’s have been reported dead since November 2021, and 17 since November last year. Most of the reported deaths have been in Canterbury. “Yet race organisers are putting dollars before dolphins with this high speed boat race in the heart of Hector’s home, which is in fact, a marine mammal sanctuary”, says Rose.

The new plan, released late last week, is a farce", says Rose. The 2024 SailGP Marine Mammal Management Plan builds on last year’s plan. However Rose says “That was not robust, not complied with and was not enforced, so it’s hard to give this version much credit."

“Even the Plan’s author admits it doesn’t eliminate the risks of this race to the dolphins, and he accepts no responsibility for impacts on dolphins that occur.”

The MMMP says the race organisers will stop the boats if dolphins are seen in the race area or buffer zone. But Rose says it’s almost impossible to keep track of the dolphins in real time. The Plan relies fully on land and boat based observers yet the dolphins are very small and hard to spot.

Rose says “The process to prevent dolphins being hit during race times is a farce. The Observer reports a sighting to the Hector’s Dolphin Observer manager, who reports it to the MMMP facilitator who reports it to the Event Control room manager who reports it to race management. This long chain of command works against the rapid response needed to avoid any collision risks.

The consequences of a boat strike for Hector’s would be fatal - especially for calves, who spend more time on the water surface and are slower to dive.

Boat strike is not just a problem during active races but also during training, with race support boats and the spectator fleet creating much more traffic, wake and hazards right where the dolphins and calves live.

“The Lyttelton Marine Mammal Sanctuary, Hector’s habitat, is no place for a high speed boat race” says Rose.

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