It is time for Hawke's Bay and the rest of New Zealand to accept that to restock Marineland with dolphins would be cruel and almost certainly result in further deaths, says marine scientist Mark Orams.

Dr Orams, an international expert on marine mammals, heads the Sir Peter Blake Foundation, established in honour of the famed Kiwi yachtsman who was shot and killed on the Amazon river in December 2001, while trying to defend his boat Seamaster from bandits.

While in Hastings to address Wednesday's launch of the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, Dr Orams said dolphins' status as higher-order mammals made the issue of restocking Marineland a moral one.

The research group he leads at Massey University is at the forefront of research on common dolphins in New Zealand. "We have a variety of research projects which we have undertaken since the mid-90s and have a growing understanding of the behaviour and biology of the species in New Zealand waters," Dr Orams said. "As New Zealanders, we avoid cruelty to other living things; there are laws to protect companion animals and animals at abattoirs, because we think morally, we're obliged to do that."

Dr Orams believed the high death rate among common dolphins captured to stock Marineland during the 1960s and 70s was evidence the species was inherently unsuitable for a life in captivity. The facility was one of very few in the world to successfully house common dolphins, he said, but its success ignored the high mortality rate.

Four months ago Shona, one of Marineland's two common dolphins, died at the age of 36, leaving her companion Kelly alone. Last month, the widow of former Marineland manager Pat McIlroy broke the silence of three decades, saying captured dolphins had "died like flies". Ida McIlroy said two were buried in her back yard. Her claims were supported by Department of Conservation reports prepared for a commission of inquiry in the 1980s, which revealed as many as six out of 10 died soon after capture or were returned to the sea within four months.

However, one anonymous source later said the carcasses of many of those released in the wild later washed up on beaches. Dr Orams said that often dolphins died soon after capture. "They have to be force-fed, which is not usual. "They are plucked from a highly-evolved, highly structured society and placed in an alien environment - the stress kills them. "We have done research, using teeth aging, that shows they live 30 or 40 years in the wild. "I would like to think New Zealand had moved on from a point where we held dolphins in captivity for entertainment."

The common dolphin was "not as common" as its name suggested, Dr Orams pointed out. Of New Zealand's four dolphin species - the common, Hectors/Maui, dusky and bottlenose (or "Flipper"), the bottlenose was the most robust and adaptable. However, along with orca (also a dolphin) found in our waters, each species displayed behaviour that was unique to this part of the world.

"There is research to suggest there is a distinctive Kiwi dialect. They are highly social, highly evolved, very curious and have an ability to learn and adapt."

"When we told the world our orca predate on stingrays, there was an incredulous "no way" from the international scientific community."

Dr Orams stressed that Marineland manager Gary McDonald and his team should "not be villified" for their work. "Gary has been an advocate for those animals and passionately championed their cause.

"He is to be congratulated. For dolphins, consistency of their caregivers is vital.

"But like all good things, it is coming to an end."

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