From the Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

Multiple times per day in Hawaii, people swim, snorkel, kayak, dive and paddle in the shallow protected bays dolphins frequent to rest. The encounters leave many mesmerized and enthralled, further deepening their affections for the marine mammal.

However, a proliferation of these interactions is causing concern.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service and several researchers, such interactions have increased over the past decade and are adversely affecting dolphins. These acts done mostly for human pleasure are interfering with the dolphins’ natural behavior, displacing them from essential habitats, and causing them to not “regain the optimum vigilance level needed to forage and protect themselves from threats such as predators or close-approaching boats.”

To help protect dolphins, Demi Fox developed The Naia Guide. It’s a free app that teaches people how to enjoy the hundreds of dolphins in Hawaiian waters, but from a distance and in a responsible way. Read the full story.

And here’s the latest in other neighbor isle gov’t and politics:

Tree ordinance fix could give tax break to Kauai developer

Kona brush fire scorches 1.5 square miles

Kauai seabird program to receive more than $445,000

Oceanic Time Warner Cable broadband upgrade for Molokai

John Howard Pierce Photograph Collection is a treasure trove

Four kii find home at Ke Kahua O Kaneiolouma

‘Untapped potential’: Training dog could be life-saving

Bill to revise exemptions, caps passes first reading at Kauai Council

Relay for Life sets record in Hilo

$11.2M update underway for piece of Maui’s history

300 evacuated from Lokahi apartments

Some members question KIUC on decisions, direction

Vet’s ‘absence will be felt among the entire Molokai community’

Dolphins courtesy lowjumpingfrog.

—Chad Blair