Tuesday 24 February 2009

Dolphin Birth at Madrid Zoo

Mary, a Bottlenose Dolphin, has given birth at the Madrid Zoo. The calf is a male and has been named "Romeo". The father of the calf is Triton.

Source: Ceta Base

Friday 13 February 2009

Speedy Dies at Acuario di Genova

Speedy, a male bottlenose dolphin, dies at the Acuario di Genova. His death comes just a few days after he was transported from the Rimini Delfinario.

Source: Ceta base

Thursday 12 February 2009

Dolphin Calf Born In Indonesia

Ancol Dreamland Park welcomes new baby dolphin
Ancol Dreamland Park welcomes new baby dolphin
Ancol Dreamland Park’s dolphin arena welcomed a new member into the sea mammal family with the birth of Spekta on Thursday.

The baby dolphin was born at 7:20 a.m. to parents Lily and Charon.


Spekta, a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), measured 80 centimeters in length and weighed in at around 8.5 kilograms.


“We named the baby dolphin Spekta, short for spektakuler [spectacular],” Ancol director Budi Karya Sumadi told reporters at the park, located in Ancol in North Jakarta.


Spekta's birth went smoothly and only took around one-and-a-half hours, said Ancol veterinarian Yus Anggoro Saputro.


Spekta is the first baby born to 17-year-old Lily.


A female dolphin usually reaches sexual maturity at the age of 9, said Yus, who supervised the observation of the delivery process.


The team of vets said Spekta was in good health, and within hours of being born, the baby dolphin was seen swimming side by side with the mother inside the aquarium at the Fantasea Dolphin arena.


“As soon as the baby comes out, it will reflexively swim up to breathe, and the mother will guide the baby to help it adapt to the new atmosphere outside the uterus,” Yus said.


He added his team had noticed Lily was ready to give birth since Wednesday.


“We noticed Lily had lost her appetite since yesterday," he said.


"Loss of appetite is the clearest sign to look out for in a pregnant dolphin about to give birth."


He added, “We can also observe its way of swimming.


“When the delivery is nearing, the female usually swims in an upright position and becomes less active.”


Yus said Lily had been pregnant for 12 months.


However, he said the veterinary team could not immediately determine if Spekta was male or female.


“We have to wait for at least several months to find out,” he said.


With the birth of Spekta, the arena now has a total of 29 dolphins. Spekta becomes the 32nd dolphin born there.


The park's management welcomed the good news and attributed Spekta's successful birth to the park's intensive efforts to breed dolphins.


“The birth of Spekta is a good outcome for our intensive efforts in breeding dolphins over the past several years," Budi said.


"We will continue with such great efforts."


He said the conservation program at Ancol was a success, despite the fact that breeding dolphins was difficult because the sea mammal was a very sensitive animal.


Budi added that Ancol was planning to establish a conservation zone for dolphins in Bidadari Island.


“We will build a special pool where visitors can swim together with the dolphins.”


SOURCE: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/13/ancol-dreamland-park-welcomes-new-baby-dolphin.html?1

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Lilly Champagne Dies at Marineland of Florida

Marineland's Dolphin Conservation Center reported on Friday that Lilly Champagne, the last of Marineland's famous "blonde" dolphins, has died.

Lilly died on Tuesday of age-related conditions and a weakened immune system, which led to pneumonia, the most common cause of death in dolphins.

Collected in 1964 from Steinhatchee prior to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, she lived in the care of staff at Marineland for 45 years and far surpassed the average 25 year lifespan of female bottlenose dolphins in the wild.

Lilly was at least 47 years of age at the time of death, which is equivalent to that of human around 100.

"Countless numbers of guests learned to care about dolphins because of Lilly," said Director of Education Terran Rosenberg. "Generations of visitors better understand the plight of wild dolphins because of what Lilly could teach us about genetics and predators. She will be greatly missed."

Lilly's unusual light brownish coloration rather than the typical gray of other Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins was due to a rare recessive genetic trait, Marineland said. In the wild, dolphins with that coloration are more prone to attack by predators since they are not well-camouflaged.

Lilly participated in Marineland shows daily until she entered her senior years in the late 1990s. From that point, she spent much of her time with her social mate, Nellie, the world's oldest dolphin in human care.

"While we all knew this day was eventually coming, it feels like we lost a family member," said Marineland's Curator of Marine Mammals, Kevin Roberts. "Lilly was one-of-a-kind in so many ways. I have worked with dozens of dolphins over the past 20-plus years, and have never had a relationship with any as close as the one I had with her. I think that Nellie is handling this better than some of us."

Nellie the dolphin is thriving at 55 and celebrates her 56th birthday in two weeks. Marineland said that fact refutes the common misconception that dolphins die prematurely in captivity.

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/

Thursday 5 February 2009

Takara Moves to Sea world San Antonio

Takara, a 17-year-old, 4,640-pound female killer whale arrived at SeaWorld San Antonio this morning after a 4-hour flight from SeaWorld Orlando. “The transport procedure went very smoothly,” said Chris Bellows, SeaWorld San Antonio’s vice president of zoological operations. “Animals are moved between SeaWorld parks on occasion to provide the best possible social grouping, opportunities for breeding and for public display.” Takara joins four other killer whales at SeaWorld San Antonio’s Shamu Theater.

Source: http://www.seaworldsanantonioblog.com/

Sunday 1 February 2009

Nova Delivers Stillborn At Indy Zoo

Nova, a female dolphin at Indianapolis Zoo, delivered a stillborn calf sometime in early February. The calf was sired by Kimo.

Source: Ceta Base