It's official: Moko is male | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

There has been much confusion over the gender of Mahia's dolphin Moko but it's now official - he is a male.

Researchers Dr Ingrid Visser, from Northland, Sarah Dwyer, Kaikoura, and Juan Copello, Argentina, spent three days in Mahia observing and interacting with the peninsula's lone bottlenose dolphin, Moko.

During this time Dr Visser confirmed that Moko is a he.

"It didn't take long for us to establish that Moko is in fact a male dolphin," she wrote in an article.

"Much mis-information is out there that Moko is a female."

The trio met with locals Bill Shortt, who has known Moko since he first arrived in the Bay in April 2007, and Joe Hedley who named Moko, before kitting up in wetsuits and meeting the peninsula's star attraction.

Dr Visser, a researcher with the Orca Research Trust, wrote about how she had "met" two other lone dolphins during her career - a female called Maui in Kaikoura and another one in the Red Sea.

"These lone dolphins provide opportunities for researchers to observe dolphins in close proximity, albeit with highly modified behaviours," she said.

"Insights gained can provide valuable comparisons to non-habituated dolphins and how they might react to situations."

Dr Visser, said Moko had scars on the left side of his body indicative of close interactions with a boat propeller.

A scar on Moko's right upper jaw appeared to be from a fish hook.

Dr Visser said even though Moko was a lone dolphin it didn't mean that he did not socialise with other dolphins.

"Maui and the dolphin I had observed in the Red Sea were both classic examples of this," she said.

"Seen only by themselves for years they both gave birth, clearly indicating they had been fraternising at some stage."

Dr Visser said it was unknown how long Moko would stay in Mahia and she urged people to respect him, particularly during the busy summer months.