2010-01-18

Solitary Dolphin Attacked With Paddle

New Zealand's Department of Conservation is investigating reports that Moko, the solitary bottlenose dolphin who first attracted international media attention interacting with swimmers off Mahia Beach area (New Zealand) back in 2007 and rescuing two stranded bottlenose whales in 2008, has recently been attacked with a paddle by a kayaker. It is not clear yet if the dolphin is badly hurt.

Since becoming isolated from his pod, Moko's behaviour has been the subject of an increasing number of news stories including reports in December of him trapping swimmers and temporarily stopping them returning to shore, incidents which prompted the city council to issue warnings of fines for anyone who tries to swim with the creature.

The reports are being taken very seriously by the authorities and investigators have been interviewing people since the attack, which is believed to have occurred near Opotiki on Wednesday 13th January.

Members of WDCS's science team have published the first systematic study of the behaviour of a solitary bottlenose dolphin in the January edition of the American Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAAWS).

The article provides a report of the behaviour of a female solitary sociable dolphin studied on the southeast coast of England in the summer of 2007.

Further details and the abstract of the article can be found if you click here. (Please note that if you wish to read the whole article, you will need to purchase it from the journal.)

Find out more on solitary sociable dolphins from WDCS.