Race days shy of dolphins

By ANNE BESTON

The Louis Vuitton challenger series for the America's Cup might make for a nice day out on the water for spectators but some of the Hauraki Gulf's permanent residents seem less impressed.

Massey University PhD student and Commonwealth Scholar Karen Stockin, who has started a three-year study of marine life in the gulf, says it has been harder to find some pods of dolphins since racing began.

"Whether that's because of increased traffic out there or because of predators like killer whales, we don't know. It's early days," she said.

"But we are seeing different behaviours in some cases and we're looking at that."

The study itself was in jeopardy from lack of funding until a group of America's Cup sailors came to the rescue.

OneWorld Challenge has given $10,000 so the field work, involving two teams of researchers aboard two boats, can continue until after the international yachties have gone.

"This was a really special opportunity to study the effects of something like the America's Cup on dolphins. It would have been a real shame to have missed it," Ms Stockin said.

OneWorld spokesman Bob Ratliffe said the research was being carried out "on the smell of an oily rag" and it would have been a shame to see it finish early.

"The eco-system out in the gulf is one of the most diverse in the world," he said. "It seemed pretty natural that an America's Cup syndicate should be involved in finding out just what the impacts of the cup are."

Ms Stockin said most Aucklanders probably had no idea about the diversity of marine life in the gulf: killer whales, Bryde's whales and two species of dolphin regularly appeared around the America's Cup boats.

Ms Stockin said the cup sailors had entered into the spirit of her work. When sailors aboard the GBR boat spotted a pair of Bryde's whales they made sure they alerted the Massey team.

Ms Stockin said her study could be used by the Department of Conservation and local authorities to manage and protect dolphins and whales in the gulf.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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