Raglan is known for its close connection to the Popoto or Māui Dolphin, we’re right in the middle of their limited range, the Whāingaroa catchment flows into the west coast waters which are home to the Māui Dolphin, the world’s rarest. Most of the Māui Dolphin’s threats are human induced and its survival depends on how our coastal communities change their behaviour to reduce these threats and bring back our iconic dolphin.
Māui Dolphin Day is an event to celebrate our community, our natural environment and our neighbours – the smallest, rarest dolphins around – the Popoto / Māui Dolphin.
Run annually for the past 18 years, Māui Dolphin Day, run in conjunction with the Xtreme Zero Waste Recycled Raft Race, is the largest community day in Raglan! It’s a collaborative community celebration highlighting the importance of our marine environment, our whanau and our community’s creativity and spirit.
Numerous Raglan Community groups have worked together to support the dolphin. These have included Harbour Care planting over 1 million trees, fencing over 600kms of harbour and stream edge, Xtreme Zero Waste preventing leachate from old landfill and installing and servicing enviropods in all stormwater entering the Harbour, Whāingaroa Environment Centre conducting water quality advocacy, implementing the Catchment Plan and general dolphin advocacy and KASM assessing and submitting on sea bed mining applications. These projects have had a major positive impact on the harbour and coastal environments with a radical increase in biological abundance and diversity . Māui Dolphin Day celebrates the work we have all been doing and shares the latest about the Dolphin and what’s next in terms of its recovery plan.
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