Dear all, Work over the past 8 years has identified that boat-dolphin interactions were significantly impacting the bottlenose dolphin population living in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. The population has also suffered a drastic abundance decline over the past 5-7 years, numbering now only 56 individuals (~18% decline over that period). In response to the identification of these threats the New Zealand Department of Conservation has now put out a threat management discussion paper which higlights the different options it is considering to mitigate the identified threats. This document is opened for public comments (DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 5) and can be found at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/page.aspx?id=44339 (a direct link to the pdf file is: http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/getting-involved/consultations/curre...) DoC is considering 3 categories of management options (and combinations of those): 1. the creation of no-boat zones and different use zones (the one we advised: Lusseau & Higham 2004) 2. reducing boat traffic 3. improving behaviour around dolphins Please register your views by emailing your comments on the discussion paper, and selecting the options you find most appropriate, to Carrie Williams (cwilliams@doc.govt.nz). Alternatively you can also mail your comments: FREE POST 62487 Director-General of Conservation C/o Carrie Williams Department of Conservation PO Box 743 Invercargill 9840 New Zealand A feedback form on which you can template your submission can be found at the end of the discussion document. References: Lusseau D. & Higham J.E.S. 2004. Managing the impacts of dolphin-based tourism through the definition of critical habitats: the case of Doubtful Sound, New Zealand Tourism Management 25(6): 657-667 (a copy of it can be found at: http://lusseau.org/publications.html) thank you, David David Lusseau, PhD Killam postdoctoral fellow Dalhousie University Department of Biology 1355 Oxford Street Halifax, B3H 4J1, Canada Tel: (902) 494 3723 E-mail: d.lusseau@dal.ca Website: http://www.lusseau.org _____________________________________________________ Academic editor for PLoS ONE- a revolution in scientific publication Learn more at http://www.plosone.org _____________________________________________________