By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Standing on a step stool to reach the podium, the 9-year-old told how she has taken on a nation’s prime minister and a local corporation to try to save dolphins on the other side of the globe.
Calista Wilkins, a fourth grader at Otsego, has been working two years to preserve Maui dolphins, the smallest of its species, that live off the coast of New Zealand.
On Thursday, Calista shared her story with the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club. The serious little girl with long blond hair is not intimidated by leaders whose words praise the preservation of the dolphins, but whose actions do the opposite.
Her efforts have earned her a grant from Jane Goodall’s organization to continue her dolphin-saving work.
Calista was also at ease speaking to the group of Kiwanians, trying to engage them in the presentation. She showed slides of New Zealand, where the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was filmed, and asked if anyone was familiar with the small statured characters called hobbits.
“The Maui dolphins are sort of like that,” she said.
Though Calista has never been to New Zealand, and has never seen the Maui dolphins, she confidently explained their plight. The rare dolphins number only about 50, and risk becoming extinct by 2030 if nothing changes to reverse their fate. The black, white and gray dolphins have rounded noses, dorsal fins shaped like Mickey Mouse ears, and like to swim in groups close to the shores of the northern portion of New Zealand.
Calista showed photographs of the small dolphins, including one called “Scratchy,” named so because of the scars left on his body by fishing nets. Scratchy was lucky, since the fishing nets are responsible for killing many of the Maui dolphins.
Since the dolphins live close to the shore, the New Zealand government has declared a safe green zone lining the coast. However, many continue to fish in the protected areas, and the government does nothing to stop them, Calista said. The Maui dolphins aren’t the intended catch, but they often get swept up in the same nets as the fish. And since the dolphins can only remain underwater for 2 ½ minutes without breathing, they perish.
“Fishermen gut dolphins so they sink to the bottom, so they don’t get in trouble,” Calista said.
From her step stool, the 9-year-old criticized the New Zealand government for adopting a slogan of “100% Pure New Zealand,” but failing to live up to the name.
“They are not enforcing the fishing laws,” she said.
The Maui dolphins do not repopulate quickly, having just one calf every two to four years. The slow breeding leads to slow recovery.
“It will be the first dolphin to go extinct because of humans,” Calista said. “The government doesn’t care and they aren’t doing enough to protect them.”
So it’s up to Calista, who quoted Jane Goodall – one of her many role models. “The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Recently Calista entered an essay contest with each student asked to write about who they would like to be. “I wanted to be the prime minister of New Zealand so I could save the Maui dolphins.”
“I didn’t win the contest, but I did send it to the prime minister of New Zealand,” she said.
She didn’t stop there.
Calista also sent a letter to the local Andersons corporation when she learned it was selling fish from New Zealand. A company official responded, saying they would stop selling the fish when possible.
Calista’s hard work has gained her attention from several world-renowned conservationists, whose ranks she hopes to join when she grows up. She has even been deemed U.S. Ambassador for Maui Dolphins.
Not bad for a fourth grader.
From the podium on Thursday, she asked Kiwanis members for their help. First, they can sign the petition on her blog helpmesavethem.com with the NABU International Foundation for Nature. Second, don’t eat fish from New Zealand.
Next, call the Minister of Conservation Office in New Zealand, whose phone number she rattled off. “Ask why aren’t you doing everything you can to protect them,” she suggested.
And last, donate to the cause. She had bookmarks, tote bags and T-shirts to sell, with all the profits going to fight for the dolphins in New Zealand court.
Calista’s parents, Jason and Haley Wilkins, accompanied her to the presentation.
“She does stuff at 9 that I don’t think of at 35,” her dad said. “She’s definitely determined.”
Her wide-eyed optimism helps, her mom said. “Adults are sort of numb to everything.” But not Calista. “She’s very empathetic.”
After saving the Maui dolphins, Calista already has her next project – Loggerhead turtles, which are also falling victim to nets.
Jane Goodall would probably approve.
