Zari's love of dolphins honoured

• Dolphin calf named Zari to remind all of young girl who loved dolphins

• Hundreds of dolphin enthusiasts celebrate Dolphin Watch Day

A young Perth girl who passed away before achieving her dream to swim with dolphins has had one of the Swan Canning Riverpark dolphin calves named in her honour.

Zari Ryan, 12, lost her battle with leukaemia in 2009 before she could fulfil her Make a Wish request to swim with dolphins.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion said it was appropriate the name 'Zari' meant treasure or gold.

"Zari Ryan loved dolphins and I think it's a wonderful idea to remember her this way and also pay tribute to all children battling serious illness with courage," Mr Marmion said.

Zari's name has been given to the last unnamed dolphin calf among the five dependent calves being seen in the river. The three-year-old calf is the offspring of Tworakes, first seen in the river in 2001.  Dolphin calves are dependent on their mothers for the first five years.

The decision was announced last night by the Minister at a reception for hundreds of Dolphin Watch volunteers.

Rivervale resident Wayne Kerslake was named the 2012 River Guardians Outstanding Dolphin Watcher after completing a remarkable 951 hours of dolphin monitoring in the past 11 months.

Eleanor Bollam of Attadale won the Chief Scientist's Citizen Scientist Award for the level of detail about dolphin behaviour she included in her monitoring reports.

Mr Marmion told the forum that the community had become increasingly aware of the river dolphins, which was an encouraging sign.

"We need people to care about the dolphins so they take better care of their home - the Swan Canning Riverpark," he said.

"That includes picking up rubbish, particularly discarded fishing line, as we are all very aware that another of our calves, Gizmo, was fortunate to survive after being severely entangled in fishing line for nearly two months before being rescued last week."

There are now 405 trained Dolphin Watch volunteers registered with the Swan River Trust - double the number from a year ago.  The volunteers report sightings of dolphins throughout the riverpark, providing valuable data for dolphin researchers at Murdoch and Curtin universities.

      Fact File

• More than 20 bottlenose dolphins are regularly seen in the Swan Canning Riverpark

• The other four river dolphin calves are Highhope, Soul, Gizmo and Night

Minister's office - 6552 6800

Photograph attached of Zari and Tworakes - courtesy of Delphine Chabanne, Murdoch University