Opo was a bottlenose dolphin who became famous throughout New Zealand during the summer of 1955/56 for playing with the children of the small town of

Opononi Opononi is a settlement on the south shore of Hokianga Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 12 runs through Opononi. Ōmāpere is on the shore to the south of Opononi and Pakanae to the northeast. The New Zealand Ministry for Cult ...

on the

Hokianga The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. The original name, still used by local Māori, is ' ...

harbour. Opo was a wild dolphin that started following fishing boats around Opononi in early 1955. She was originally named "Opononi Jack", based on

Pelorus Jack Pelorus Jack (fl. 1888 – April 1912) was a Risso's dolphin (''Grampus griseus'') that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The animal was reported over a 24 year period, from ...

, since she was presumed to be male. Unlike the majority of dolphins, she had no qualms about human company, and would perform stunts for locals, play with objects like beach balls and beer bottles, and allow children to swim alongside her and make contact.

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

children were more reluctant to play with Opo, as cultural beliefs said the dolphin was a messenger from

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

. The dolphin became a local celebrity but news of her soon spread, and visitors from throughout the country would come to watch her. On 8 March 1956 official protection for Opo, requested by locals, was made law, but on 9 March she was found dead in a rock crevice at Koutu Point. There were suggestions that she had become stranded while fishing, or that she had been killed by fishermen fishing with

gelignite Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and salt ...

. Her death was reported nationwide, and she was buried with full Māori honours in a special plot next to the Opononi War Memorial Hall.

Legacy

The song "Opo the Friendly Dolphin" was written by Crombie Murdoch and recorded by Pat McMinn (coincidentally on the same day Opo died) and was highly popular. A second song was written by Julie Collier in 1988. Several documentary films have been made about Opo. Rudall Hayward made a film called ''The Amazing Dolphin of Opononi'', released in 1956 and shown in 26 countries. Opo was the inspiration for the

Maurice Shadbolt Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writerRobinson and Wattie 1998 and occasional playwright. Biography Shadbolt was born in Auckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger bro ...

novel ''This Summer's Dolphin'' and A children's storybook titled ''Opo the Gay Dolphin'' by

Avis Acres Thyra Avis Mary Acres (née McNeill, 26 March 1910 – 15 October 1994) was a New Zealand artist, writer, illustrator and conservationist. She is best known for her comic strip about two pohutukawa fairies, ''Hutu and Kawa''. Biography Av ...

was published by Reed Publishing Ltd. A stone statue of the dolphin playing with a child by Russell Clark was erected in Opononi in 1960. Following vandalism this was replaced by a bronze casting in 2013, with the restored original put on display at the Hokianga Historical Society's Museum at Omapere. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa holds a large number of photographs of Opo taken by Eric Lee-Johnson. A Scottish country dance called ''Opo'' was published in 1994. It includes a hey/reel for three with the 1s dancing as a unit and changing the lead on the ends of the heys, a move known as a 'dolphin hey'.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

The songs

''Northern Advocate'' story on the 50th anniversary of Opo's death.

Photographs of Opo the Dolphin from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
1956 animal deaths Individual dolphins Solitary dolphins Hokianga History of the Northland Region Individual animals in New Zealand Individual wild animals

Legacy

See also

References

External links