Anger at state of Port River following baby dolphin deaths

TWO baby dolphins have died, prompting outrage over the state of our Port River dolphin sanctuary — with one volunteer videoing a shocking collection of trash including batteries and even bottles labelled poison.

THE heartbreaking loss of two baby dolphins in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary has prompted outrage about the amount of pollution in the Port River.

Two calves have died in the past two weeks with local experts warning the rubbish in the river may be to blame.

One body, believed to be one-year-old Ruby, was recovered last week but two-week-old Holly’s corpse has yet to be found.

Mum Ripple and baby dolphin Holly, who recently died in the Port River. Picture: Jenni Wyrsta

Adelaide dolphin expert Dr Mike Bossley said research in other parts of the world suggested Adelaide’s high local calf mortality rate might be a result of pollution but there was no conclusive local data to prove it.

Dr Mike Bossley at Port Adelaide.

“Several pollutants have been identified in the Port River ecosystem which could be damaging the health of dolphins,” he said.

“The only way to (partly) demonstrate that these two calves died from pollution would be to do a necropsy on them to collect tissues, which would then be sent off to a laboratory for analysis.”

He said a full suite of tests on the dolphins’ bodies would cost about $10,000.

Mum Sparkle with calf Ruby, whose body has since been recovered from the Port River. Picture: Marianna Boorman

Conservationist Rodney French, who was in his kayak on Monday helping to look for Holly’s body, said he was shocked to find 100 glass bottles, four bottles labelled as poison, plastic drums, batteries and fishing line during one visit to Garden Island.

“I think it is absolutely disgusting,” Mr French said.

“We lost a calf this week through poisons in the water ... and I wonder why we are seeing bottles with poison written on it stacked in the mangroves?”

Local volunteer Rodney French was disgusted to find so much rubbish dumped in the Port River last weekend. Picture: AAP/Emma Brasier

The devastating loss of the two calves comes as opposition grows to Flinders Ports’ proposal to dredge 1.55 million cubic metres of toxic sea matter to widen the Outer Harbor channel

Port Adelaide Mayor Gary Johanson is pushing for the material to be relocated on land at Gillman rather than dumped in Gulf St Vincent.

Aaron Machado from the Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organisation said the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary could not be considered a sanctuary because of the continued pollution.

“It has a huge impact on the dolphins, we’ve been doing clean ups of the Port River for the past 20 years and we have removed hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of rubbish out of the Port River,” Mr Machado said.

“We’ve found poison bottles, oil bottles, you name it, not to mention the industry pollution that has been pouring into the river for the past 20 years ... that is still happening at an alarming rate.

“You’re going to allow speedboat clubs to operate within it but it’s a sanctuary? That’s bullshit.

“You can’t continue to allow these things to happen and then call it a sanctuary, if it is a sanctuary then it is a free zone for adverse effects on the marine environment.”

A spokeswoman from the Environmental Protection Agency said independent studies had shown that dolphins and fish in the Port River were generally healthy.

“The EPA’s role is to regulate industry and ensure that licence conditions are adhered to, including the management of pollutants being released into the marine environment,” she said.

“The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources manages the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and rangers patrol it regularly both on land and by boat.

“This is the time of year they see new dolphin calves. They are wild animals and not all will survive.”

Mr French has organised a public clean-up of Garden Island on Australia Day with the support of the Port Adelaide Enfield Council, which is providing 30 bins.

“When we saw what had happened we jumped at the chance to assist,” Mr Johanson said.

The Port River is one of the only city’s in the world to have bottlenose dolphins so close to the metropolitan area — and the only one to have wild dolphins that tail walk.