Dolphins mutilated, dismembered Whangarei Harbour, WE (NZ) Incident Date: Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004 Disposition: Open Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Case ID: 3225 Classification: Mutilation/Torture Animal: marine animal (wild) View more cases in WE (NZ) Login to Watch this Case

New Zealand fishermen may have killed two of the dolphins that recently helped protect swimmers from a great white shark, lifeguards said yesterday.

Two dead dolphins were found on Wednesday in a river in the upper reaches of Whangarei Harbour, on North Island's east coast, animal protection officer Jim Boyd said.

Their tails had been hacked off and officials believe they may have been mutilated by criminals poaching fish.

Three weeks ago, a pod of seven dolphins saved a group of swimmers from a predatory 3m great white shark at a beach near Whangarei city, 820km north of the capital Wellington.

The protective dolphins have been hailed as the humans' saviours, after the incident was reported this week.

Lifeguard Rob Howes and trainee Helen Slade said yesterday they feared the two mammals might have been part of the pod that ganged up to protect them and other swimmers from the circling great white.

An angry Mr Howes called the netting and mutilation of the dolphins "indiscriminate murder". "This is how we repay them for their help," he said.

But Department of Conservation area manager John Gardiner said there were hundreds of dolphins in the area and there was no way of knowing if the dead animals were involved in warding off the shark.

Mr Gardiner said it appeared the dolphins had been snagged in illegal fishing nets.

Fishing with illegal nets, failing to report finding a dolphin in a net, and mutilating a marine mammal are offences carrying a maximum $NZ10,000 ($9,073) fine.

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