DON’T FEED THE DOLPHINS
Amity the new Tangalooma? Signs and potential fines of up to $8000 have not stopped locals or tourists from hand feeding dolphins off the jetty at Amity Point, writes Maria Tan.
ocal councillor Craig Ogilvie believes that prohibiting people from feeding dolphins off Amity jetty will prove to be unsuccessful. He has told SIN that introducing a dolphin-feeding program, similar to that run off Tangalooma on Moreton Island, could be an easier way forward. Speaking from his experience as a former Tangalooma resort tour guide, Cr Ogilvie told SIN that the Tangalooma handfeeding program makes sure that dolphins do not get sick from human contact or become dependent on being hand fed. “Tangalooma does a decent job of it and you’d have to think that there’d be a commercial opportunity here for somebody to do it in an environmentally sensitive way and make some kind of feature out of it,” Cr Ogilvie said. “If Tangalooma can do it, why can’t we do it on the Island in an appropriate way and make it something that people want to come and see?” Illegal dolphin feeding off Amity has been going on for years, according to Stradbroke Wildlife Rescue spokesperson, Stell Grimmett. She and other concerned locals have been waging a losing battle trying to stop the activity and protect the wild marine animals. “The major thing really is that jetty, because there are people fishing and people jumping off that jetty all the time while
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12 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS
the dolphins are there. Ms Grimmett told SIN. “We worry too about the dolphins being there because we take part in Clean Up Australia Day and we get tonnes of fishing line every year that we pick up; it’s just like a web down there.”
The Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins seen off Amity are not the same species as the Common Bottlenose Dolphins seen off Tangalooma on Moreton Island. While the total Australian population size of Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins is unknown, it is estimated there are between 119 and 163 individuals in Moreton Bay. The Tangalooma dolphinfeeding program is strictly monitored to ensure the animals only receive 10 to 20 per cent of their daily food requirements and must still hunt to survive.
The Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing (NPRSR) told SIN that signage was being developed to “improve public awareness of the impacts feeding can have on dolphin health.” According to NPRSR Marine general manager, Rebecca Williams, the unregulated feeding of dolphins increases their risk of boat strike, entanglement in fishing lines and the ingestion of hooks and lures. “It also disrupts their social structure as they can become dependent on humans for food, and that can result in decreased maternal care of calves,” Ms Williams said. She also emphasised the importance of dolphins only being fed via “specifically authorised dolphin feeding programs”. “It’s not legal to feed the dolphins at Amity Point. Dolphin feeding activities are authorised at only two locations in Queensland: Tangalooma and Tin Can Bay.” Under the Nature Conservation (Whales and Dolphins) Conservation Plan 1997, a person must not intentionally feed a dolphin in the wild unless authorised under a Marine Parks permission, as is the case at Tangalooma. An on-the-spot fine of $300 can be imposed for illegally feeding dolphins in the wild, while a conviction can bring a maximum penalty, for an individual, of $8000.
WINTER 2012