Before starting this new year, we offer you a brief summary of the results of our monitoring of bottlenose dolphins and the actions we carried out in 2025.
On the dolphin side, 2025 was...
- 258 data collection sessions, from land and underwater diving.
- 27 resident, semi-resident, or transient dolphins identified in the Tiputa area.
- 4 dolphins particularly observed while diving: Mokarran, Herehia, Câline, and Maui.
- 5 pregnant females documented and 3 calves still alive in December 2025.
- 1 stranding, that of the adult female AV02 found dead on the Tiputa reef.
- 1 adult female, TP41, superficially injured by a boat propeller.
Despite a much greater sampling effort than in 2024, the frequency of bottlenose dolphin sightings in the Tiputa area was lower. Furthermore, the number of dolphins permanently leaving the area [n=5] is the highest ever recorded since the start of our monitoring in 2009.
On the human side, 2025 was...
- The renovation and furnishing of an association premises, a place for exchange about the dolphins of Rangiroa. This project came to fruition thanks to the financial support of FAPE Te Ora Naho [i.e., Natura Porinetia Fund], the DIREN, and the Ministry in charge of the Environment of French Polynesia. It also received support from Tahiti Tourisme, the Commune of Rangiroa, and the Rangiroa Diving Center.
- The publication, in the journal Via Tourism Review, of an article co-authored by Dr. Marie Cholley-Gomez, Fabienne Delfour, and Pamela Carzon entitled Tourisme d'observation des grands dauphins à Rangiroa, en Polynésie française : entre reconnexion à la faune sauvage et marchandisation du vivant
- Interventions with various audiences [e.g., schoolchildren, tourists, tourism providers], notably during the Science Festival, the Makeva Festival, and the training of local aquatic hiking guides organized by the IJSPF.
- 14 eco-volunteers who came to spend six weeks with us in the field.
A big thank you to them, as well as to the many divers who shared their underwater images with us! Thanks also to our local partners: the Rangiroa Diving Center, its captains, and dive instructors who kindly welcomed us into their dive groups; the DIREN, which granted us authorization to film the bottlenose dolphins and called upon us during the stranding of the female dolphin at Tiputa. Thanks also to the agents of the Commune of Rangiroa and to the local residents who intervened during that event.
We finally thank the pension Teina and Marie, the Relais de Joséphine, FAPE Te Ora Naho, and Tahiti Tourisme for their help and involvement in the monitoring of the bottlenose dolphins of Tiputa.
In 2026, we continue our work in Rangiroa and participate in the REMMOA II campaign [OFB, Observatoire Pélagis] with the aim of improving our knowledge of dolphins in the 5 Polynesian archipelagos.
Finally, we wish to expand our awareness-raising tools, always with the aim of promoting ethical and sustainable dolphin watching in the Tiputa area.