October 28, 2019 — Federal officials are still working to finalize a rule three years in the making that’ll render it illegal to approach or swim with spinner dolphins in Hawaii.
“We’re hoping to finish it soon,” said Ann Garrett, assistant regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office Protected Resources Division in Honolulu.
“I don’t have a deadline to tell you or a date that I can say, but I would hope that you will see something within the next six to nine months.”
If implemented, the rule would create a 50-yard barrier around spinner dolphins, “naia” in Hawaiian, for swimmers, vessels (including stand-up paddleboards) and objects (such as drones) within two nautical miles of the shore. That means being within 1/2 of a football field of a spinner dolphin, by any means, including swimming or intercepting by boat, the mammal’s path, would be outlawed — statewide.
“The issue here particularly on the Big Island, but also on Oahu and to a lesser-degree on some of the other islands, is that repeated interactions with some of these animals with humans can actually change their behavior, and changing their ecology can be problematic,” Garrett said. “Potentially, it can even decrease their chances of survival.”