{"id":202231,"date":"2025-12-26T04:47:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/202231\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T04:47:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:47:05","slug":"rare-hectors-or-maui-dolphin-spotted-in-northland-prompts-questions-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/202231\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Hector\u2019s or M\u0101ui dolphin spotted in Northland prompts questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Department of Conservation marine species adviser Kristina Hillock said sightings of Hector\u2019s or M\u0101ui dolphins in the Bay of Islands were rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be just the second confirmed sighting of a Hector\u2019s in Northland in 100 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hector\u2019s dolphins were once found along the coast of most of the South Island as well as parts of the North Island.<\/a><\/p>\n

Today, Hector\u2019s dolphins are classified as nationally vulnerable<\/a> and live in different sub-populations around the South Island. They are only occasionally seen around the North Island.<\/p>\n

The M\u0101ui dolphin is a nationally critical subspecies<\/a> of the Hector\u2019s dolphin, which is found on the west coast of the North Island, mainly between Taranaki and Kaipara Harbour. It is estimated just 54 adult M\u0101ui dolphins remain.<\/p>\n

The two species were not easily distinguished from each other without DNA testing, but were readily identifiable from other dolphins.<\/p>\n

Both Hector\u2019s and M\u0101ui dolphins were grey and white, with black markings and a distinctive black rounded fin, shaped like Mickey Mouse\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n

People who saw the dolphin should call the Department of Conservation (0800 DOC HOT – 0800 362 468).<\/p>\n

Zaeschmar said Hector\u2019s and M\u0101ui dolphins were known to be friendly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are social and they will come and interact with boats and people, so there is a good chance that somebody will come across it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But he said people who spot the dolphin should try to keep their distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really exciting to have this animal here and we encourage the public to report sightings, but please stick to the rules. They are prone to get hit by propellers and boats, sadly all around the country. Just be boat-wise when you are around the animal and give it plenty of space. Please respect its habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Department of Conservation marine species adviser Kristina Hillock said sightings of Hector\u2019s or M\u0101ui dolphins in the Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67917,102297,78,123896,111,43,139,1067,69,691,37250,48047,17146,8205,16189,9636],"class_list":["post-202231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-dolphin","tag-hectors","tag-in","tag-mui","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-or","tag-penny","tag-prompts","tag-questions","tag-rare","tag-smith","tag-spotted"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}