Video: Itchy dolphin remarkably uses Marlborough Sounds cruising boat hull as scratching post

March 7, 2018

The captain of Pelorus Mail Boat, Jim Baillie, said he’d never seen anything like it in many years of cruising the Marlborough Sounds.

It seems close human encounters with dolphins aren't always a mystery of the playful mammal's nature - sometimes they just have an itch to scratch.

That's at least the explanation of Marlborough Sounds boat cruise business Perlorus Mail Boat, who filmed a confident dolphin rubbing himself against the hull of their boat yesterday.

Owner and captain of the Perlorus Mail Boat business Jim Baillie said he'd never seen anything like the itchy dolphin's actions - but added he didn't actually see that much of the event because he was a little preoccupied.

"I didn't get to see that much of it because I was driving the boat at the time," Mr Baillie laughed.

"Everyone was pretty excited, there was a pod of dolphins and one swam over.

"You can see he had a particular itch to scratch."

Mr Baillie was however keen to warn the average boatie not to try and manufacture this event by chasing dolphins in the Marlborough Sounds.

On the Perlorus Mail Boat's Facebook page, Mr Baillie said they were posting the vision as an opportunity to educate on water safety around marine life.

"This is not something that happens often and you should not try and make this happen," Mr Baillie said.

"The dolphin then chose to come to us to use the boat as a scratching post. We then maintained our slow speed and straight course to ensure the safety of the dolphin."

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