Coast and Shelf Waters of Eastern Te Waipounamu IMMA
Size in Square Kilometres
31,119 km2
Qualifying Species and Criteria
Hector’s dolphin – Cephalorhynchus hectori
Criterion A; B(1)
New Zealand sea lion – Phocarctos hookeri
Criterion A; B(1)
Summary
This IMMA consists of the continental shelf waters (out to the 200m depth contour) of the southern part of the east coast of Te Waipounamu (New Zealand’s South Island), from the Waiau River on the Marlborough coast in the north to Makati/Chaslands Mistake on the Catlins coast in the south. The east coast of the South Island of New Zealand is important habitat for a number of delphinid and pinniped species. It includes habitat for a small, resident population of Hector’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori, a species listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List that is endemic to New Zealand. The IMMA also includes important haul-out and breeding sites for the endangered endemic New Zealand sea lion Phocarctos hookeri, New Zealand sea lions have been seriously depleted by sealing and more recently by bycatch. Likewise, Hector’s dolphin populations are below 30% of their historical numbers and some local populations have been lost. Generally, these coastal waters support a high diversity of marine mammal species.
Description of Qualifying Criteria
Criterion A – Species or Population Vulnerability
Hector’s dolphin and New Zealand sea lion are both IUCN red-listed as Endangered (Chilvers 2015). New Zealand sea lion is so listed due to the small number of breeding locations. A few small breeding colonies are found on the east coast of the South Island, with the largest mainland breeding colony on Otago Peninsula (Chilvers & Meyer 2017). Hector’s dolphin is considered Endangered based on rate of population decline over the last three generations. Both species are significantly depleted compared to their historical population size and range (e.g. Childerhouse & Gales 1988; Slooten and Dawson 2010). New Zealand sea lions were extirpated from the mainland and sea lions from Sub-Antarctic populations, including Campbell and Auckland Islands, are very slowly re-establishing colonies on the mainland (Collins et al. 2014).
Criterion B: Distribution and Abundance
Sub-criterion B1: Small and Resident Populations
There are several small, resident populations of Hector’s dolphins and New Zealand sea lions in this area, e.g off Otago (42 individuals; CV = 41%, CI = 19 – 92; Turek et al. 2013). Another small, resident population south of Otago Peninsula has been extirpated (Diver 1866, McGrath 2020). Increasing population fragmentation is a risk factor for the species as a whole. Large gaps in Hector’s dolphin distribution compromise the demographic continuity of regional populations (and the species as a whole) and make it less and less likely that dolphins eliminated by human actions (e.g. bycatch) will be replaced by dolphins from nearby populations. New Zealand sea lions have several small breeding populations in this area, including Otago Peninsula (11-18 breeding females) and Catlins (up to 6 breeding females; Chilvers & Meyer 2017). Currently, there is a very small number of breeding females on mainland New Zealand, with the only large breeding colonies on Sub-Antarctic islands (Chilvers & Meyer 2017). Recolonisation of the mainland and establishment of additional breeding colonies is needed for the species to recover, and therefore these small resident populations of New Zealand sea lions within the IMMA are extremely significant. New Zealand sea lions use both inshore and offshore habitat for foraging (Auge et al. 2011).
Supporting Information
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