Pelorus Jack, New Zealand’s famous dolphin steamer pilot

Posted on 2020-06-30 13:22:01

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I have a photograph of the most famous dolphin who ever lived (pictured below): New Zealand’s Pelorus Jack. He appeared on day in Pelorus Sound and for twenty years he guided steamers through the rocky channels of Cook Strait and French Pass.

Many ships had been wrecked in this dangerous area, but skippers found that Pelorus Jack chose safe channels with astonishing accuracy. The skippers had learnt from experience which were the safest channels, but most did not know at that time that dolphins have their own ‘sonar’, an eco-location ability that warns them of obstacles ahead and helps them to find food.

Pelorus Jack was a Riosso’s dolphin, a beakless species. He would appear as soon as a steamer’s skipper sounded the siren. He ignored sailing ships. He seemed to be attracted by the sound of a steamer’s motors. He would swim to the bow of the ship and lead the way to the entrance of the Pass.

Passengers would look forward eagerly to his appearance, and a cheer of welcome would always greet him. He would make for the bow and play in the waves it made. One day he was struck by a propeller and injured. Nine months passed before he was seen again. Many thought he had died of his injury. His return made headlines in the New Zealand press. He no longer swam directly in the bow waves and kept well ahead of the vessel he was leading.

The wild free beauty of the animals of land and sea means nothing to some people. Show them a beautiful creature, and they will itch for a gun. Inevitably the day came when some perverted individual decided to shoot Pelorus Jack for ‘sport’. There was a burst of rifle fire. Pelorus Jack avoided the steamer from that time on… and so did many of her former passengers, deeming her ‘unlucky’ because of the attempted killing of Pelorus Jack. She was wrecked a few years later, and seventy-five people drowned.

In 191the New Zealand government made any kind of interference with Pelorus Jack an offence. The years passed, and Pelorus Jack lived on. He had first begun his piloting between 1888 and 1889 and was still joyfully greeting steamers when World War I broke out in 1914. Then he disappeared. Anxious eyes searched for him for many months. He had brought a rare kind of pleasure to many thousands of people.



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