OPO THE GAY DOLPHIN by PIWAI TOI Ehare te toka i Akiha he toka whitinga ra tena, ko te toka o Mapuna, ko te ripo akake e kitea. A Maori proverb of the Hokianga Harbour says: “The Rock of Akiha is of no account as the sun can shine on it, but the rock of Mapuna is different; all you can see is its swirl”. Why did the dolphin come to live in the Hokianga River in the year 1955? She was seen following rowing boats during February of that year. On Easter Saturday in March 1955 a memorial for Kupe was unveiled, after whom this river was named the Hokianga or Return of Kupe. This memorial is at Pakanae and is of virgin rock. Mr Hohepa Heperi, a Maori elder who was brought up in the Hokianga said to us: “Opo is the fish of peace, a legacy from Kupe”. She died on some rocks above Koutu Point, about three miles up-river from Opononi. The Maori name for these rocks is Te Kauere o Kupe. It was towards the end of March 1956 that Opo died. These coincidences are certainly strange. In writing about Opo I wish to apologise for not having any photos of her. When I went to collect my photographs, they had been developed, but lost. This happened after her death. I had no intention at the time of writing about Opo so I did not keep dates and other data. When Te Ao Hou asked for articles for their readers I made up my mind to write of my experiences and observations during her short but memorable life. I was in the store at Opononi when Dr Turbott from the Auckland Museum arrived. During the discussion on Opo the fact that she was a female dolphin was disclosed. Previous to her death she was called Opo Jack. No one asked Dr Turbott what Opo's diet was and to this day I don't know. She was about 8ft. 6in. long and weighed about 800 lbs.

HOW I FIRST SAW OPO Although I had heard that there was a dolphin in the Hokianga Harbour I did not make her acquaintance until June of 1955. I was returning from Rangi Point School about 6.30 p.m. and the sea was rather choppy. Suddenly there was a big splash and a boiling swirl. A large fish was streaking for my boat just under the surface. I really thought it was going to hit my boat, when about 10 yards away, it dived and surfaced on the other side. It played round and round the boat. Such was the way I first met Opo. I was afraid she would be hit by my outboard, so I went in-shore as close as I could. When I was in about 4 feet of water I looked back. She was about three feet out of the water, standing literally on her tail and looking at me from a distance of about fifty yards away. She sank out of sight and that was the last I saw of her that afternoon. In August of the same year, two other chaps and I went to Rangi Point to gather pipis. We had not gone far when we were joined by Opo. By this time, whenever we went out fishing we were always on the look-out for her and rarely were we disappointed. Opo really gave a charming display that day. She played round and round our boat and then swam just under the keel. When she did this you could feel the boat being lifted in the swell she made as she swam under the boat. One of the chaps sat right in the bow and kept putting his hand in the sea trying to touch Opo. At last he did. As far as I know he was the first person to touch Opo with his hand. While picking pipis three boats passed going to Opononi but she stayed just out from our boat cruising round. Then she followed us all the way back to Opononi.

A TOURIST ATTRACTION By the beginning of the warmer weather Opo had begun to be a drawcard. One of my daughters who had to work at weekends as the proprietor of the tearooms was unable to cope with the crowds. By the time the Xmas holidays had begun Opo had really hit the headlines. The tearooms were doing a roaring trade and two other helpers had to be employed. We asked our daughter how many people were there each day and she said round about fifteen hundred to two thousand. We were a bit sceptical so we went to Opononi one Sunday afternoon, just out of idle curiosity.