Moko takes his tricks to town

JOHN ALLEN

RIVER PLAYGROUND: Moko plays with a surf ski rider in the Waipaoa River, near the centre of Gisborne.

Moko the friendly dolphin is going to great lengths to keep his playmates – leaving a couple of surf ski riders up the river without a paddle.

Gisborne man John Allen snapped Moko making off with the paddle yesterday and said he was amazed at the mammal's dexterity.

"Every time they managed to get hold of it he'd start trying to knock them off their skis till they let go of it, then he'd grab it and disappear under the water for about 30 seconds, and then you'd see it come up on its end like that.

"He's obviously very intelligent."

Moko had been spending his time further up the East Coast in Tolaga Bay, but returned to Gisborne in the past week.

Mr Allen said he had seen Moko hanging out about a kilometre up the Waipaoa River, near the centre of town.

Mahia resident Bill Shortt said the dolphin's latest antics were totally in character. "He's got a brain very similar to ours, he can anticipate every move if you're reaching for a ball or a paddle, and if you get there before him he gets quite pippy."

One week when Moko was still lurking in Mahia, Mr Shortt had rescued three broken boogie boards, a rugby ball and three beach balls from his clutches.

Mr Shortt said there was no telling where Moko would spend the summer holidays, but he hoped to see him again. "I do miss him, we used to sit here at night, and there's a big yellow marker buoy ... and when everyone took off from the beach he'd come down outside our place and he'd clear it, he'd jump five, six metres in the air."

Conservation Department officials have warned people against playing with Moko now he is fully-grown, but that has not dulled public fascination.

This week Moko delivered a near record-weight snapper to a pair of Gisborne boaties, Mr Allen said. "It was a trophy fish, like a 12-kilogram snapper – the club record is 13kg. "They took it home and ate it."