Approaching Within 25 Meters and Shouting "Wow"… Dolphins Crying Out Due to Noise

[Anchor]

The problem of tourist vessels getting too close to watch the Jeju Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, a marine protected species, is not a new issue. Jeju National University researchers tracked and analyzed the proximity of tourist boats and their noise exposure levels, and the results showed that the overall dolphin habitat is being threatened.

Reporter Jeong Yong-gi from JIBS.

[Reporter]

A tourist boat is closely trailing a pod of Jeju Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.

The distance between the fishing boat carrying tourists and the dolphins is a mere 25 meters.

As many as four vessels are swarming within a 200-meter radius around the dolphins.

This is a violation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' guidelines for viewing tourist boats, which prohibit three or more vessels from simultaneously approaching within 300 meters of dolphins.

When the dolphins move away to avoid the vessels, a small boat is also captured accelerating rapidly while kicking up splashes.

This is another violation of the viewing guidelines, which require engines to be turned off within 300 meters of dolphins.

As a result of Jeju National University researchers tracking the movement paths of tourist vessels and dolphins over 650 times for the first time in South Korea, it was revealed that dolphins have been exposed to continuous noise due to violations of viewing guidelines.

Fifteen percent of fishing boats carrying tourists closed in to within 50 meters—the restricted approach distance—while small and large tourist boats also showed violation rates in the 4% range.

[Kim Chang-soo / Researcher, Basic Science Research Institute at Jeju National University: There are standards requiring engines and propellers to be shut off at a distance of less than 300 meters and regulations prohibiting approach within 50 meters. We confirmed that most cases violated both...]

However, on-site crackdowns are practically non-existent.

In particular, as excessive vessel approaches expose the communication frequency band of dolphins to noise, chronic stress and habitat disruption are raising concerns.

Small boats exceeded noise standards by 3 decibels in a staggering 93% of cases, and even large vessels, which stayed relatively far from the pods, exceeded noise standards 25% of the time.

[Kim Chang-soo / Researcher, Basic Science Research Institute at Jeju National University: They use sound in the water to communicate, and if boat noise echoes loudly around them, they have to raise their voices more and use up a lot of energy. Because they have to chronically expend a lot of energy, they can be exposed to chronic illnesses and experience a sharp drop in immunity....]

Viewing guidelines established to protect dolphins have become a dead letter.

Substantive dolphin protection is remaining nothing more than a slogan.

(Video by Ko Seung-han / JIBS, Footage provided by Dr. Kim Chang-soo)

Jeong Yong-gi, JIBS
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.