Moko the dolphin followed the fishing boat Eskdale into Tauranga just before Queen's Birthday Weekend.
Waterline editor Brian Rogers was the first Tauranga residents to make contact with Moko when the full sized bottle nose dolphin gave Brian the honour of stealing his paddle.

Brian was kayaking near the ice jetty and put the paddle down to take a photo when Moko took it.
Moko did it again later in the day at Pilot Bay, but Brian was prepared then. He took a spare paddle.
Moko drew a small crowd in Pilot Bay on Thursday afternoon, doing the meet and greet with people prepared to stand and shiver in cold water to do so.
His arrival prompted a flurry of activity with Tauranga DOC rangers making preparations to receive their guest, and telling people how to behave.
John Heaphy's concerns are that people respect Moko's right to call the shots.
Moko is three metres long and masses about 300kg. He's not a pet. He's large, strong, and a wild animal.
DOC staff are hoping Moko will stay in Tauranga. 'We want to ensure the Tauranga area is remembered in positive terms around Moko – not the place where someone was seriously injured or someone hurt our friendly dolphin,” says DOC Tauranga Area Manager Andrew Baucke.
'Our message is simple, remember that he is a wild animal and his behaviour can't always be predicted.
'Just bring yourselves and leave all the toys at home. We don't want to see people vying for Moko's attention by bringing down man made objects.”
While in Whakatane everyone had a more relaxed time with Moko when there weren't multiple objects in the water, with Moko trying to play with everything at once, says Andrew.
He wants boats within 300m of Moko drop to low speed, with no wake. The harbourmasters advice to boaties is to obey the rules, particularly the Five Knot rule that applies within 50m of another person in the water.
DOC's Moko interaction guidelines are:
- Ensure that children are well supervised in the water near Moko
- Consider wearing a life jacket, especially children and if you are not a strong swimmer
- Do not try to handle Moko
- Dolphins have sensitive skin, remove protruding jewellery such as watches and rings
- Refrain from ‘scratching' him with your fingernails
- Do not take stringed or roped ‘toys' that could entangle Moko
- Do not surround the dolphin – always allow him to have an escape route where he can safely move to deep water
- Do not attempt to ride or be towed by Moko.
As Waterline went to press, Moko had disappeared again in the harbour, probably looking for a feed, says Eskdale skipper, Jack.
Moko has followed fishing boats before. He followed one round East Cape when he left Gisborne, where he had been resident for a couple of years. In his interactions with humans he has developed a reputation for robust play, frequently swiming away with paddles, flotation devices and water toys.