Why this innocent-looking video of a fisherman hand-feeding a dolphin got him a $431 fine: ‘Australia is a nanny state’
- Visser was fined for feeding dolphins
- Queensland rangers fined him $431
Aussies have criticized authorities and called the country a “nanny state” after a fisherman was fined $431 for hand-feeding a wild dolphin.
Footage of the “illegal interaction” shows a man on the water in Tin Can Bay in south-east Queensland gently feeding the dolphin bits of fish.
But after the video was posted online, local forest rangers contacted the fisherman in the footage to fine them.
The vision shows the dolphin floating in the waters around the boat, as the sea creature keeps coming back for more.
He is seen hand-feeding the dolphin from the fishing boat as the sea creature keeps coming back for more (pictured)
Tina Ball of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said an investigation was launched after video came to light of the dolphin approaching the boat.
“We’ve contacted the people in the video, one feeding the dolphin and one filming the interaction,” the senior wildlife officer said. ABC.
“They admitted to feeding the dolphin and didn’t know it was an offense to do so.
“They got a fine violation that is more lenient than going to court where a maximum prosecution could be $11,000.”
Ms Ball said skippers should keep 150 meters away from the front and back of dolphin pods and 50 meters from the side of a pod.
When a dolphin approaches a boat, people have to cut gears or move away from it at six knots.
She said the laws are there to protect the popular marine mammals from illness and injury, adding that they could get sick if they eat non-fresh fish.
It can also affect their natural feeding behavior and how they interact in their pods, while lung diseases can also be passed on to them from humans.
Interactions with people on boats can also put you at risk of being hit by boats or entangled in fishing lines.
Ms Ball said there has been an increase in illegal interaction activity in the Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach areas, which authorities are targeting.
But the strict measures were too much for some online who said rangers should focus on more important things
But the strict measures were too much for some online who said rangers should focus on more important things.
“Don’t feed a dolphin or you’ll get fined, steal and burn multiple cars and get away with it over and over again. [Palaszczuk] and her laws are a joke,” said one online user.
“Red tape, conservationists have nothing to do but annoy people,” another wrote.
“Why don’t they put more park rangers out to stop people from letting their dogs off leash where it’s illegal. Many children and other dogs are bitten every year,” said a third.
“Australia is a nanny state,” said another.