How a drone could save our rarest dolphin

Friday, 26 February 2021

MAUI63 and WWF-New Zealand have developed a tracking drone to find, follow, and identify Māui and Hector's dolphins.

A sophisticated drone is the latest hope in the drive to bring Māui dolphin back from the brink of extinction.

MĀUI63, a not-for-profit organisation, has developed an artificial intelligence-powered tracking drone to autonomously find, follow and identify Māui and Hector's dolphins.

Māui are recognised as the world’s rarest dolphin, with a population of 63 or less. Hector's dolphins are the South Island subspecies, with only about 15,000 left.

PM Jacinda Ardern shares details of a plan to use drones to save rare dolphins.

The marine mammals, with a distinct rounded fin and black and white markings, are also the world’s smallest, and found only in New Zealand.

* DOC says cat disease is threatening Maui and Hector's dolphin

* Government plan to protect Maui and Hector's dolphins called a 'pathway to extinction'

* Three Hector's dolphins killed in net off Canterbury coast

MÄui are the world's rarest and smallest dolphin.

* United States adds Māui's and Hector's dolphins to endangered species act

They are at risk from set-net fishing, suffocating when they become entangled, climate change, seismic surveying, and newborns are especially vulnerable to boat strike.

Māui dolphins have distinctive grey, white and black markings and a short snout.

Another serious threat is the disease toxoplasmosis, spread through cat faeces and washed into the ocean.

MĀUI63 believes that by identifying and locating individual dolphins, decisions can be made to protect them.

Co-founder Dr Rochelle Constantine, who has been studying marine mammals for 25 years, says the dolphins are “our most urgent conservation problem”.

It’s hoped the drone will accurately update restricted zones, ensuring fishing boats are nowhere near endangered dolphins.

“We currently don’t have a robust understanding about Māui dolphin distribution, particularly during winter months and at different times of the day and night,” she said.

“Of critical importance for conservation, we don’t know how often dolphins use some areas that fishers are operating in, which is where there could be remaining risk of entanglement.”

The drone would help fill in “critical science gaps” about Māui dolphin distribution and how they use their habitat.

The Māui dolphin population only increases by about one per year.

The $350,000 drone flies at between 140-160kmh and has a 50km range and a 50x zoom lens. It’s hoped it could be deployed once a month. Currently, the West Coast dolphins are surveyed for only three weeks every five years.

The technology is so sophisticated it can distinguish Māui and Hector's dolphins from other species from hundreds of metres above the ocean.

It will also track reproduction and identify mothers and calves – vital information on a species that breeds slowly.

Females produce one calf every two to four years, and the population may only be able to grow by 2 per cent a year.

MĀUI63 partnered with WWF-New Zealand to raise funds, and with the Department of Conservation, Ministry for Primary Industries and fishing companies Moana New Zealand and Sanford Ltd to get the project off the ground.

The data will be uploaded and shared publicly.

It was launched in Auckland on Friday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker as guests.

WWF-New Zealand CEO Livia Esterhazy says the technology could mean the difference between extinction and survival.

“If we don’t remove all the threats they face and protect the right places, and Māui dolphins become entangled in fishing gear or are harmed by seismic surveying, we could lose them forever. Their population is that critical,” she said.

Both fishing companies would like to use the drone technology to reduce the risk of Māui and Hector’s dolphins coming into contact with their nets.

Last year, the Government extended set-net fishing restrictions down the whole of the West Coast of the North Island, and increased the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary to extend north to Kaikōura, south to Timaru and offshore to 20 nautical miles.

DoC is also developing an action plan to deal with toxoplasmosis, and a moratorium was placed on commercial tourism permits targeting Māui dolphins.

However, some experts and environmental groups argued the new protection plan was piecemeal and “a pathway to extinction”.

Māui dolphins could once be found along most of the West Coast of the North Island, from Cook Strait to Ninety Mile Beach. Today, they are found from Maunganui Bluff to Whanganui, and are mostly seen between Manukau Harbour and Port Waikato.

Hector’s dolphins are found around the coast of the South Island, concentrated between Haast and Farewell Spit in the west, around Banks Peninsula in the east, and Te Waewae Bay and Porpoise Bay/Te Whanaga Aihe in the south.