Dolphin Protection

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:22): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. What information can the minister provide into the recent death of Hunter, the six-year-old male bottlenose dolphin, who was euthanised on Friday 22 October? Perhaps more importantly, what investigations and steps are being taken to prevent dolphin deaths and protect the remaining dolphins in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary pod?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:23): I thank the member for Florey for that question. It is very unfortunate that there have been the deaths of a couple of dolphins in recent months in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary. This is something that I and my department are taking very seriously. We have expanded the resources available to the South Australian Museum to undertake appropriate and elevated investigations, not just the traditional autopsy process but a more detailed investigation to try to get to the bottom of this.

There was also recently a dolphin found dead quite some distance outside of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary but, because it was a younger animal, it was unusual to find that. We are taking the corpses of these dead animals to the SA Museum, which has substantial experience in this, and undertaking the appropriate investigations. I have made it very clear to my department that any resources required to get to the bottom of this to try to get a better understanding of the situation should be used or deployed in order to build that understanding.

We have been able to, in recent months, with the expansion of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in South Australia and a 45 per cent increase in the number of rangers, substantially increase the number of patrols through the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary—something that had been pulled back and whittled away under the previous government, also obviously with the abolition of the dolphin advisory committee by the Weatherill government.

I think that has left us in a particularly unfortunate position, but we will continue to build our expertise, deploy the resources needed within the National Parks and Wildlife Service and provide the SA Museum with the appropriate level of resourcing to get to the bottom of this.

The SPEAKER: Before members depart, I should observe that not a single member left the chamber under 137A today—the first time in a very, very long time.