Marine Connection welcomes the news that officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials are in the final review stages of rules that would ban members of the public swimming with Hawaiian spinner dolphins. Officials are nearing completion of regulations proposed almost three years ago that would create a 46-metre barrier around the marine mammals and extend 2 nautical miles from island coastlines, including waters bounded by Maui, Lanai and Kahoolawe.
Swimming with the spinner dolphins is a booming tourism industry, topping $100 million in 2013 on just Hawaii Island and Oahu. An estimated 630 to 670 Hawaiian spinner dolphins reside in waters around the Hawaiian islands and increased human activity in dolphin-resting habitats disrupts resting behaviour and may be contributing to the displacement of dolphins. Hawaiian spinner dolphins are nocturnal, hunting at night and coming into shallow, near-shore waters to rest during the day – early morning around Kailua Bay can have 10 to 15 boats following and surrounding the dolphins. Margaux Dodds, Marine Connection campaigns director who has experienced this first hand comments “This has been a concern for some considerable time and I have seen instances when dolphins are obviously resting and have been disturbed, therefore it is vital these new regulations are put in place to protect them both now and in the future.”
The final regulations could be published by the end of this year, there are however a few exceptions within the regulations including when dolphins approach swimmers or boats due to their social inquisitive nature, when a 46-metre limit doesn’t allow for safe navigation or when the safety of a person or a vessel is in question.
