State aims to reduce
swims with wild dolphins
The days of swimming with dolphins in Hawaii may be numbered.
A company that got state permission Friday to conduct commercial kayak and snorkeling tours from Makua Beach agreed to get people out of the water when dolphins come within 50 yards.
The requirement for Makua Lani, the nonprofit organization that received a state permit yesterday, is the first attempt by the state to reduce human-dolphin interactions.
The DLNR plans to draft statewide rules regulating human approach to marine mammals. The guideline was taken from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The 50-yards-away permit condition is intended to protect dolphins, said Peter Young, chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
After hunting for food at night, "dolphins are going to these protected areas to rest" during the day and shouldn't be disturbed by people, Young said.
Areas where dolphins rest -- and attract humans who want to swim with them -- include Makua on the Waianae Coast, La Perouse Bay on Maui and Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, Young said.
People who attempt to swim with dolphins also put themselves at risk for shark bites, Young said.
A man swimming with dolphins at Makua Beach in 2003 lost a foot to a shark, Young noted.
Makua Lani serves mostly Japanese visitors who contract their services through tour agencies, said its executive director Richard Holland. The company employs Waianae residents and returns 30 percent of its profits to the community, he said.
Waianae resident William Aila told the land board he has been impressed by Makua Lani's willingness to be respectful of the dolphins and of Hawaiian cultural practices. Noting that he was speaking as an individual and not as Waianae harbormaster, Aila said he supported the company getting a permit.
Two other Waianae residents, Gail Hunter and Jo Jordan, questioned whether Makua Lani seeking registration as a nonprofit or employing local residents were relevant points. They noted that the company's predecessor, Dolphins and You, conducted swim-with-dolphin tours for years without a permit.
There are three boats on Oahu that offer swim-with-dolphins excursions to the Waianae Coast and two others that take people to look at them, Aila said.
Mauna Lani representatives protested to the land board that those boats don't face the same restrictions as they do under their new permit.
"They will," Young promised.
The state permit granted to Makua Lani also requires it to only operate between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays; shuttle customers to the site, which has no parking; bring no more than 28 customers per day to the site; provide portable bathrooms for and clean up rubbish from customers; and comply with ocean safety guidelines.
Dept. of Land & Natural Resources
www.state.hi.us/dlnr