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Forest and Bird is concerned that a new permit allowing prospecting for minerals off the coast of the North Island could create a new hazard to the Maui's dolphin, which is on the verge of extinction.
The organisation's conservation advocate, Kirstie Knowles, said yesterday that the Government had issued a permit to mining company Trans-Tasman Resources, allowing it to prospect for minerals in an area of more than 6000sq km, from north Taranaki to the Waikato River mouth, for two years.
Ms Knowles said Maui's dolphins, which lived within the prospecting zone, depended on sound for communication, foraging and navigating.
Seismic surveys conducted in marine prospecting used high-intensity pulses of sound to determine the composition of rock layers under the sea floor.
"Studies have found that these sounds can have adverse effects on dolphins' behaviour, and could cause hearing loss, discomfort or injury," Ms Knowles said.
The permit also allowed drilling - a further threat to the dolphins and other marine species, she said.
"Maui's dolphins are the world's rarest marine dolphin, with only 111 remaining.
"We cannot afford to pose any further risks to them."
She said the Department of Conservation's long-delayed threat management plan for Hector's and Maui's dolphins should ban seabed prospecting and mining within Maui's dolphin range.
- NZPA
