Maui's Dolphin Email

Dear Green Peace,

Our class has been studying the Maui’s Dolphins and we have found that they are critically endangoured and I would like to find out what else I can do to help stop them from becoming extinct. I live in proximity to Sunset beach, Port Waikato (where the Maui’s Dolphin live). I already have some suggestions to help, we should put up signs around Sunset beach to stop fishermen setting there nylon nets because Maui’s Dolphins get attracted to them and get stuck, they can swim backwards to get out of them.

250 dolphins ( not just Maui’s Dolphins) die a year because of this fishing. And there are only aproxamitly 111 Maui’s Dolphins left. Maui’s Dolphins only have 2 babies in their lifetime. So the population will only increase slightly In New Zealand there are more Kiwis and Turatara than Maui’s Dolphins. The population may improve but we have to change how we fish. Please help me make a difference. These animals need to protected. We also need to put signs up to stop the littering of plastic bags in location to the Maui’s Dolphins habitats. When they get in our oceans the dolphins and other wildlife could eat the plastic bags and the chemicals in the bag will make them sick.

At our school we are going to create a mural to educating the public about Maui’s Dolphins and how we need to protect them, so that’s a start. Victoria, from WWF came and discussed how we can make a difference. She told us that adopting a dolphin is one of the main ways to help, which our class is going to do next year. I would really appreciate it if you would write back.