A Greens MP says a sign warning people to stay away from dolphins with calves near Port Adelaide is "pathetic", a week after a parliamentary inquiry called for more public awareness of how to prevent injuries to the marine mammals.
Dozens of dolphins have died or disappeared from the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary in recent years.
A sign at the Garden Island boat ramp within the sanctuary is a laminated A4 piece of paper stapled to a wooden pole.
It warns people using kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and boats to stay at least 150 metres away from dolphins with calves, but does not explain why.
Two dolphin calves have been born in the sanctuary recently and people cannot legally go within 150 metres of them, to prevent injuring them or disrupting feeding calves.
Greens MLC Tammy Franks said the sign showed the Department for Environment and Water was failing in its duty to protect new dolphin calves in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary.
Ms Franks described the signage as "utterly pathetic".
"To see an A4 piece of paper in a bit of plastic flapping in the breeze connected by three apparent staples to one pole alerting the public and kayakers to the required protections for this dolphin calf is quite extraordinary and an absolute dereliction of duty by this department," she said.
The Department for Environment and Water was yesterday contacted for comment, and today responded that while two temporary signs were installed on wooden posts last year, and "were designed to capture the attention of people launching boats", a much bigger sign has since been put in place.
"A large permanent sign that covers Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary regulations is located about 20m from the temporary signs," a department spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that "all key public entry points within the sanctuary have permanent signage".
"The temporary signs are not representative of the department's approach to signage and public information in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary.
"An identical, but larger, corflute sign was also installed further up the boat ramp in a proper steel frame but was vandalised and removed."
Toxic substances killing dolphins
The inquiry was spurred by a reduction in the number of dolphins living in the sanctuary from about 35 five years ago to 12 now.
It found artificial, toxic substances found in the water were one of the major causes of dolphin deaths.
Other issues included dolphins being impacted by fishing gear and fast-moving boats.
It recommended more public awareness of individual dolphins, more coordination between government departments, lower speed limits for boats and employing more marine safety officers and park rangers.
The one sign that is up at Garden Island is flopped upside down, so it cannot be read unless someone turns it the right way up.
Port River Dolphin Watch founder Jenni Wyrsta said there was a new calf in the area that was less than two weeks old, so there needed to be "big, bright, loud signs" warning of the danger to dolphins.
"Unfortunately, when people come to the area, as soon as they see the dolphins they just go straight over to them, so they need to be educated and told that they need to keep their distance from the little one," she said.
"I mean, there have been times when I've seen people heading out towards them and I've just called out and said 'there's a very small baby dolphin over there, do you mind keeping your distance because if the little one is disturbed and doesn't feed there's going to be all sorts of problems, it'll be stressed' and people have been wonderful — they've said 'yes, sure I didn't know that'.
"Now, that's the key here — people don't know it and without the proper signage they still don't know it."
Government looking at report
Environment Minister Susan Close, whose electorate includes the dolphin sanctuary, said the government was looking at the recommendations in the report.
"We've got the report — it's an interim report," she said.
"We're working through all the recommendations, and nothing is off the table."
No reports of dolphin deaths or disappearances have been made in recent months.
