New Zealand bans swimming with dolphins - TravelMole


New Zealand bans swimming with dolphins

Monday, 02 Sep, 2019 0

New Zealand has decided to partially ban swimming with dolphins because tourists are ‘loving them too much.’

The attraction in the Bay of Islands off the coast of North Island has long been popular but the close interaction with humans is killing them off.

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation says the bottleneck dolphin population has declined 66% since 1990 and has 75% mortality rate for young dolphins.

"Research shows that interaction with the bottlenose dolphins is having a significant impact on the populations resting and feeding behaviour and that people are ‘loving the dolphins too much’," the Department of Conservation said.

The department said it may also ban or restrict dolphin attractions elsewhere.

It will also limit dolphin spotting tours by boat.

"They spend far less time feeding, nursing their young and sleeping’ because of a steady stream of tourists.

It will also restrict dolphin spotting boat tours to just morning and early afternoon trips and reduce the tour length from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.



 

profileimage

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.



Most Read

Mark Jaronski of Explore Georgia on FIFA World Cup 2026

Connecting Small Businesses to Global Tourism Markets: Nate Huff of Tourism Exchange

North Carolina’s Resilience: Wit Tuttell on Recovery and Tourism

Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns

James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel

Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination

Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics

Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari