{"id":507095,"date":"2026-02-27T07:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T07:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/507095\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T07:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T07:47:21","slug":"suspected-propeller-strike-injury-to-bunbury-dolphin-worries-wildlife-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/507095\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected propeller strike injury to Bunbury dolphin worries wildlife group"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dolphin injured in a suspected propeller strike in Western Australia’s south west has raised concerns about the animals’ interactions with humans.<\/p>\n

Warning: This story contains images of injured animals.<\/p>\n

The Dolphin Discovery Centre said it had received reports this week about a cut to the back and tail of a dolphin in Bunbury’s Koombana Bay, some 160 kilometres south of Perth.<\/p>\n

The wildlife conservation group says it had the identified the injured dolphin as Fence, whose calf Coupe was also injured late last year.<\/p>\n

Spokesperson Emily Ehlers said the centre had seen an increase in the number of injured dolphins.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Dolphins are known to frequent the waters at Koombana Bay, in Bunbury. (Supplied: Aquatic Megafauna Research Unit\/ Valeria Senigaglia \u2014 taken with permit)<\/p>\n

“Last year we recorded five and this year we’ve recorded three, whereas previous years we’d only seen one or maybe even two,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So to have five and then to already have three in 2026 is really concerning.”<\/p>\n

Ms Ehlers said it was not clear what had injured Fence, but human activity was likely involved.<\/p>\n

“Just from the way the cut is so clean and flat, we think that it’s probably a propeller strike,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s concerning on quite a few levels, because on an individual level the dolphin calves are already vulnerable, that’s increased when there’s a vulnerable mother as well.”<\/p>\n

‘Pretty horrific’<\/p>\n

Rodney Petersen, director of citizen-science association Geographe Marine Research, took the footage of the injured dolphin.<\/p>\n

“I got a message from a member of the public who was out on a boat and waited until I could get there with a drone,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The injury was pretty horrific.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Fence (right) is the mother of Coupe, who is also recovering from an injury. (Supplied: Rodney Petersen)<\/p>\n

He immediately passed the footage on to wildlife authorities.<\/p>\n

Mr Petersen said the incident is the latest in a series of injuries to dolphins<\/a> in the past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dolphin was likely injured by a sharp object, he added.<\/p>\n

“This was probably one of the worst ones,” Mr Petersen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot more boats out here, a lot more jetskis \u2026 you’re in a dolphin area and you need to slow down and have a look around.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attraction (DBCA) spokesperson said the authority was aware of the injuries.<\/p>\n

“There have been a few instances of dolphins presenting with different lacerations in the area over the summer,” they said.<\/p>\n

“DBCA is monitoring reports and the health of these dolphins.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Dolphin Discovery Centre says it has recorded an increase in injured dolphins. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Increase in begging behaviour<\/p>\n

Bunbury, WA’s second biggest city, is home to some 200 dolphins. The Dolphin Discovery Centre, where visitors get to see the animals in their natural habitat, is a popular tourist attraction.<\/p>\n

More dolphins, however, are approaching boats and humans for food, and this “begging behaviour” is putting them at risk, Ms Ehlers said.<\/p>\n

The injured dolphins, Fence and Coupe, had approached members of the public and the centre’s own research vessel, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Ehlers hopes Fence’s injury will heal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We think that flap of skin will necrotise and will hopefully drop off,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Her body cavity hasn’t been affected, which is a really good thing.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Injured or sick wildlife can be reported to the Wildcare Helpline on (08) 9474 9055<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dolphin injured in a suspected propeller strike in Western Australia’s south west has raised concerns about the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,254551,67770,254546,254549,254547,254548,128,254550,338],"class_list":["post-507095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bunbury-dolphins","tag-bunbury-news","tag-dolphin-discovery-centre","tag-injured-dolphin","tag-injured-wildlife","tag-propeller-strike","tag-science","tag-southwest-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}