The furore.
In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.
The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of the SailGP series in Christchurch's Lyttelton Harbour on Saturday, after "prolonged mammal activity" on the racecourse.
So that must have been frustrating. But Sailing is hardly a stranger to postponements or cancellations. If there’s too much wind, or if there is not enough wind. Sometimes the wind changes direction and becomes the wrong type of wind.
So did SailGP chief executive, Sir Russell Coutts, simply wear it on his improbably large chin? Did he say “ah well these things happen, it’s just the reality of holding a sporting event in a conservation area”? No he did not, as reported by One News:
In a fiery statement this afternoon, Coutts hit out at the “extreme” marine mammal management plan "forced upon" SailGP and said New Zealand was "handcuffed" by bureaucracy and red tape.
And from the Herald: “Coutts lost it, and in a Trumpian outburst attacked all and sundry - DoC, the harbourmaster, the hapū, the scientists, the laws, etc.”
Mr Coutts basically said, “What are those bloody dolphins doing in my ocean?”, and proceeded to throw his toys around the place in a tantrum. Declaring that he was taking his tournament, and he wouldn’t be back.
This from Henry Weston, the Deputy-director general operations for The Department of Conservation:
SailGP chose to hold its event in a marine mammal sanctuary – a decision he said was made with the full knowledge that protection of the dolphins from boats would be "paramount".
"At this time of year, mothers and calves are present in the harbour and calves have been seen on the course this weekend. Newborn calves and young animals are vulnerable to boat strike as they are less aware of risk, spend more time on the surface and dive more slowly than mature dolphins."
In a statement the event organisers said, “As racing was due to start at 3pm local time, confirmation was received of a dolphin sighting on the racecourse. In line with SailGP protocol, racing was delayed to allow the dolphin to pass through safely but unfortunately it did not move outside the race course area, meaning that racing could not take place.”
It’s probably worth mentioning that these aren’t just any old dolphins, like you might find in other places around the world. These are our very own Hector’s dolphins.
They have two distinct subspecies, the Maui up north who like to make their homes near potential oil drilling sites, and the Hector down south who prefer to frolic on race courses.
But Russell Coutts is not a believer. “The Hector's dolphin is not an endangered species as Otago university professor Liz Slooten recently claimed,” Coutts said, and then he called her a liar.
Slooten, who has been researching marine mammals for more than 30 years, replied:
"The [International Union for Conservation of Nature] is the international organisation that lists endangered species, and Hector's dolphin is definitely on that list."
She said dolphins were intelligent but the speed of the boats was the problem.
"It would be a bit like saying that children are inherently aware of cars and trucks and therefore will never have an accident. These boats going at 100km an hour, these aren't something that these dolphins have ever encountered in their lives before."
The choice of Lyttleton Harbour as a viable host for the New Zealand leg of SailGP was a "really bad place to choose", Slooten said. "And they were told that, over and over again, for a couple of years now."
So what did the Dolphins make of all this?
What did they have to say? Was it “so long, and thanks for all the fish”? Did they laugh in that high pitched fashion, that’s really quite annoying and you’re pretty sure is mocking you? Nope. This is what they said:
Judging by the response I got on Facebook and Twitter a lot of people agreed. So why is that?
Before we come to the reasons why, I have a small request…
I know we all get used to content on the internet being free but the world’s changing. Even the mainstream media model of advertiser funding is failing. The subscription model is a good alternative, but it only works if many people pay a little.
I’m really pleased with how this korero been going lately. Readership continues to increase, people seem to be really enjoying and valuing what I write. But not many people are putting their hand in their pocket.
Writing this newsletter is a full time job, it’s how I earn my living. If you’ve been enjoying it, it would be really appreciated if you could contribute. It’s less than $2 per week, which isn’t much after all this inflation, there’s not much else you could buy for that. So, thanks for reading this message, and please consider subscribing. 🙂
To be fair Russell isn’t the first Kiwi hero inconvenienced by the need to protect aquatic mammals. I’ve seen a few people posting this classic clip from our beloved John Clarke.
The Sport - Sailing.
Part of the reason Mr Coutt’s outburst has struck such a nerve is that sailing is not exactly, hmm how to say this… multicultural. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s so white and privileged that it makes rowing and equestrian look like sports of the people.
Where other sports struggle for funding and exposure sailing always seems to receive more than would seem fair. The sailing teams are constantly saying they need more money, which they no doubt do as the big events like the America’s Cup are the preserve of billionaires and their egos.
But they possibility won’t get much sympathy from the softball team who are representing our country while staying in a backpackers hostel. One sport is the preserve of brown people, played in poorer communities, the other of wealthy white ones. So who gets all the coverage and funding?
That’s right, the sailors. And who moans and says it’s unfair, that the taxpayers or the ratepayers should give them more money? That’s right - it’s the sailors.
I’m sure there are lots of folks in the sailing community that are really decent people. Some of those at the peak like Peter Burling and Blair Tuke seem like absolutely top blokes. It’s hard to imagine a nicer, more down-to-earth Kiwi than Barbara Kendall. But things have always been a bit different with Russell Coutts.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Nick's Kōrero to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.