Dolphins stop traffic with morning swim

Picture / Paul Estcourt

No it wasn't the pull of a Christmas sale or concern at the unmarked police car radar farther up the road that had travellers pulling over along Auckland's waterfront yesterday.

A pod of dolphins, swimming blissfully unaware, was drawing throngs of cars and spectators to Hobson Bay.

The 15-strong pod of pelagic, or common, dolphins, including calves, caused a flurry of cellphone calls from those lining the road urging friends and family to come down for a look.

Leigh Flavelle of St Johns was among the regular stream of passersby to park and dash across Tamaki Drive for a glimpse.

"It's wonderful to see them so close," she said. "We couldn't stay, but have come back to get a better look."

Erana Edmonds, 10, said seeing the pod was a dream come true.

Beaming American tourist Nastasha, 4, from landlocked Montana, was impressed.

"The baby ones are really cute."

Marine biologist Karen Stockin said it was unusual to see common dolphins so close to the shore.

"They are present in the Hauraki Gulf all year round but are rarely seen so close to shore, compared with the more common bottlenose dolphin."

She said the Hauraki Gulf was an important feeding and calving area for the species. Despite how close they came to cities, little was know about them.

Ms Stockin said the pod could have come in close to the shore for a number of reasons, but probably to escape predators or chase prey into shallow water.