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Bay of Islands Mammal Sanctuary rules


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1 hour ago, Black Panther said:

On further thought it takes more than 64s to go below find a jacket and harness and put them on then go on deck to do something, so I might just keep sailing.

The thought of a naked squid sailing a 60' schooner is too much for me and I dare say DOC in the BOI to bear.

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2 hours ago, Black Panther said:

I think we all do.. which is why the near universal condemnation of these rules as stupid is interesting 

According to offical stats over 60% of submissions we re supportive.

 

I can just imagine it...

" We support improving the the marine habitat BUT... whoa - dont need to read any further that, tick in the support box"

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Interesting consequences  here. I was on the car ferry last year to Great Barrier. A pod of dolphins started surfing right under the bow, and stayed with us for around 30 minutes. Great entertainment for us and obviously them. Did DOC consult the dolphins?

A sensible [ god help us, that we should have sensible rules ...], would be, if you see any marine mammals, do not approach them. If they come to you, slow down to 5 knots. Job done.

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On 17/11/2021 at 4:06 PM, Black Panther said:

Singlehandedly I need more than 300m to stop and drop sails. Normally takes 10 to 15 min. Or am I supposed to go head to wind and flog everything till they leave?

I can reef my sail in 1.5 seconds
The joys of junk rig

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6kts, is 3m per seconds or about a minute and a half to travel 300m. By the time you spot a whale, make sure its a whale, wait for it to breach again you are way past a minute and a half. Seems almost as if the committee  thinks that whenever a whale or dolphin appears then its

  1. Calm and sunny with great vis
  2. You are driving a car and can apply the brakes
  3. There are no bricks, channels or bad weather
  4. You have no responsibility for the safely of your vessel and passengers
  5. Whales care (hint they dont GAF!)
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On 17/11/2021 at 8:50 PM, Black Panther said:

Dolphins are supposed to be as smart as a smart dog. How many dogs have gone extinct coz they spent too much time chasing a stick?

 

My problem with this, like the biofouling rules, is it's being dumped on us with no mention of any actual research to back it up. Sounds like somebody just made some stuff up and we are wearing the consequences. 

Kevin you'd probably find more support on here for protecting the marine environment than the rest of the population,  but these rules appear to be just dumb, they need to be sold better at the very least. 

I actually found the research it’s based on. 
it was a pretty unconvincing piece and wouldn’t really bear scrutiny in the peer reviewed world - pretty much no controls nor adequate comparison regarding the primary variables including scarcity of food ( food availability pretty much ignored altogether as a variable), and no attempt to categorise vessel movement intent as essentially assumed intent of all vessel’s is to interact. 
 

lastly who the fk can see a dolphin 300m away? Usually in don’t see the buggers until they’re right on me. 

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The international boarder where we're from has these regulations. Explained here: https://www.bewhalewise.org/

And the larger area with somewhat complicated zoning... 

Restrictions have been in place for over a decade where I'm from and there may be allot to be learned by looking to how other areas have resolved these issues. Requiring boaters to stop their vessels when anywhere within a 300M zone is not common.

Attachment-3-Overview-Map-1024x683.jpg

 

2021-11-21_12-21-08.png

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Rule-breaking boaties are reportedly undermining a sanctuary’s efforts to protect dolphins in Northland’s gem for marine wildlife watching.

The finding was part of a deep dive into the effectiveness of the Bay of Islands’ (Te Pēwhairangi) Marine Mammal Sanctuary.

The findings, released by the Department of Conservation (DoC) earlier this year, showed the number of bottlenose dolphins in the area was continuing to decline.

The report stated 40 bottlenose dolphins were estimated to be in the area last autumn.

The figure was a stark drop from the 244 dolphins in 1997 but an improvement on the population’s lowest point of 16 dolphins in 2019.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/rule-breaking-boaties-threaten-bay-of-islands-dolphin-sanctuary/XHPEZ34MSFBLDFQDI2TBAMDGYM/

 

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40 minutes ago, ex Elly said:

Rule-breaking boaties are reportedly undermining a sanctuary’s efforts to protect dolphins in Northland’s gem for marine wildlife watching.

The finding was part of a deep dive into the effectiveness of the Bay of Islands’ (Te Pēwhairangi) Marine Mammal Sanctuary.

The findings, released by the Department of Conservation (DoC) earlier this year, showed the number of bottlenose dolphins in the area was continuing to decline.

The report stated 40 bottlenose dolphins were estimated to be in the area last autumn.

The figure was a stark drop from the 244 dolphins in 1997 but an improvement on the population’s lowest point of 16 dolphins in 2019.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/rule-breaking-boaties-threaten-bay-of-islands-dolphin-sanctuary/XHPEZ34MSFBLDFQDI2TBAMDGYM/

 

I'm suspecting it's nothing to do with caulerpa and the associated degradation of bait fish habitats and everything to do with those evil world destroying terrorist boaties.

With so many interconnected aspects to an environment like the BoI, it is amazing how the evil boatie gets utterly everything pinned on them.

No cruise ships.

No high speed tourist boat operations.

No commercial fishing.

No agricultural run off.

No La Nina summers

Just evil boaties, minding their own business putting around at 6 knots...

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Every time we come across dolphins in the bay (usually somewhere around Tapeka/Roberton) I slow down and call out "go away" or "will you please stop playing in my bow wave" but they just dont take any notice. Then one or two Explore tour boats come racing in, always on the plane, and follow the dolphins around for the next twent minutes or so. This usually gives us a chance to get away from the rule-breaking situation

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On 18/11/2021 at 9:47 AM, twisty said:

I suspect that this is more aimed at Rivieras and fizzies than yachts that are in most cases slower than any dolphin or orca.

I doubt the distinction was made by those making the rules,  even if the issue at hand is indeed those 20kts boats with open props in the water.

 

Of course if a guy doing 20 kts can hit a relatively stationary ferry hard enough to sink it and kill someone, the whales and dolphins have no chance of being spotted regardless of these misguided  (but well intentioned) rules

Even my 25ft keeler is apparently invisible to some of those boaties, so I don't see how the typical riviera skipper will locate and track a pod of dolphins that are cruising along below the surface.

I've seen a large launch plow through a pod of dolphins near Kawau.... absolutely incredible how careless and inattentive some of them are even when close to anchored boats, the shore, paddleboarders and swimmers.

 

Meanwhile, the dolphins seem to enjoy swimming alongside my little keeler sailing along at 4-5 knots

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