Dolphin Research Center is excited to announce that we will soon welcome a new family member – a one year old, female Atlantic Spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis). The youngster was found in critical condition on July 4, 2014 on Redington Beach, Florida, and successfully rehabilitated by Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Weak, malnourished, and believed to be without her mother for approximately one week, the animal weighed only 53 pounds and required dedicated care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week after arriving at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Her survival is a tribute to the state-of-the-art rehabilitation and medical care devoted to her by the aquarium’s staff. For the first three months, the young dolphin was unable to swim consistently on her own and caregivers remained in the water holding her as needed. She received fluids every few hours to provide nourishment, along with hosts of medical tests taken on a daily and weekly basis. After six months, her condition is stable. She has grown to 73 pounds and gained in strength.
Because of her young age and lack of survival skills, National Marine Fisheries Service declared her non-releasable and selected us as her new home. Among our resident family of 24 Bottlenose dolphins, we have several mature females who are experienced mothers. As we saw when we adopted Jax and Louie, moms like Tursi and Aleta, for example, were willing to take new youngsters into their care. We believe this will happen again and our family offers multiple opportunities for different social pairings.
Even though the youngster is a different species, this should not present a problem. Those of you who have been members a long time will remember Stanley, a young Atlantic spotted dolphin that was taken in as a stranded animal many years ago. Back in the 1980s, we also provided a home to Dart, a young Stenella attenuata. Both Stanley and Dart formed strong relationships with their bottlenose family members. There are currently no other Atlantic spotted dolphins living in a United States facility.
“All of us at Dolphin Research Center are ready to welcome this little girl into our home and our hearts. We commend everyone at Clearwater Marine Aquarium for saving her life and restoring her health. We are committed to continuing this exemplary care,” stated Rita Irwin, DRC’s President and CEO.
A date for her arrival has not yet been set. As soon as we were informed by NMFS that we would be her new home, we began preparing for the event. DRC’s Co-Founder and COO Mandy Rodriguez and Linda Erb, V.P. of Animal Care and Training, travelled to Clearwater Marine Aquarium to meet the little dolphin and her care team. They are working with the CMA staff to prepare her for the transport and transition.
Once she arrives at DRC, she’ll spend time in our medical pool, gradually becoming acclimated to water from Florida Bay, before she moves into the dolphin lagoons. This will also give her time to become accustomed to her human caregivers who will then introduce her to her new dolphin family.
Since our founding in 1984, it has been part of Dolphin Research Center’s mission to provide permanent homes for dolphins and sea lions that cannot survive on their own. We know that you, our members and donors, join us in this commitment. There will be additional costs involved in first transporting the youngster to Grassy Key and then in providing her with around-the-clock care for as long as she requires.
We need your help to care for this amazing new family member. Thank you for everything you’ve done for DRC and our marine mammal family. It is because of your assistance that we have been able to continue our mission and we ask that you help by continuing to support us. To donate toward the care of the baby Stenella, please click here for the Memberships & Donations area of our website or contact the Membership & Development office via email at drc-mbr@dolphins.org or by phone at 305-289-1121, ext. 229. Thank you for your help! (Will add hyperlinks to website and email.)
