Rare sea creatures on ‘impressive journey’ excite officials in New Zealand. See them
A pair of sea creatures surfaced off the coast of New Zealand and immediately caught the attention of scientists. The rare animals had fins shaped like Mickey Mouse ears and were a long way from home.
Someone spotted the two dolphins in the Firth of Thames, a bay on the country’s North Island, last October and alerted wildlife officials, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation said in a March 5 news release.
Wildlife officials identified the pair as an adult female and juvenile Hector’s dolphin. The sighting was “rare and unusual,” officials said.
Hector’s dolphins are “one of the world’s smallest dolphins,” reaching about 5 feet in length, according to the department. Only about 15,000 of these dolphins are over 1 year old, and they mostly live around New Zealand’s South Island.
“Hector’s dolphins have the distinctive round dorsal fin, like a Mickey Mouse ear,” Kristina Hillock, a marine expert with the conservation department, said in the release.
Excited by the aquatic visitors, scientists tracked down the dolphins and collected a small tissue sample for further analysis, officials said.
“This is the first time we’ve obtained a sample from a Hector’s (dolphin) spotted in this area, and for us that’s crucial,” Hillock said.
Scientists studied the tissue sample and confirmed the pair of dolphins “had made an impressive journey, as they come from a population off the east coast of the South Island,” wildlife officials said in a March 5 Instagram post.
The Firth of Thames, near Auckland, is along the northern coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Measured in a straight line distance, the bay is about 470 miles away from Christchurch, a city along the eastern coast of the South Island.
The analysis “helps us understand more about the species’ distribution,” Hillock said. “It’s another piece of the puzzle as we work to understand more about Hector’s dolphins.”
The October sighting of two Hector’s dolphins in the Firth of Thames was the area’s third in 60 years. The previous sightings were of a small group of dolphins in 2020 and a lone dolphin seen several times in 2022.
Hector’s dolphins are considered endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Rare sea creatures on ‘impressive journey’ excite officials in New Zealand. See them."
