Lyttelton Port officials are confident everything is being done to protect endagered Hector's dolphins during development work.

There's concern the dolphins and other marine life will be affected, after an independent report suggested activities like pile driving, land reclamation and dredging could adversely affect them.

But Port CEO Peter Davie says they've followed all of the report's recommendations, including having marine observers on-site to ensure the animals aren't disturbed.

"We do what we call a soft start so we don't start straight into heavy pile driving.

"We make a bit of noise first and that gives the dolphins an opportunity to move away if they don't like the noise."