Feds assess 'next course of action' after fourth dolphin dies at Dolphinaris Arizona

Federal officials confirmed Friday they are assessing the situation at Dolphinaris Arizona after Kai, a 22-year-old dolphin, became the fourth dolphin to die at the aquatic facility in 16 months. 

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in a statement Friday that officials are aware of Kai's death and "working on the next course of action." The statement did not specify what that might include.

The agency monitors animal care throughout the United States.

The facility at Loop 101 and Via de Ventura near Scottsdale opened in 2016 with eight dolphins, half of which have died in that time. Four dolphins remain at Dolphinaris, according to spokeswoman Jen Smith.

"We're obviously very devastated by the losses," Smith said. 

Dolphinaris has hired an external pathologist to conduct a necropsy — an animal autopsy — to determine what caused Kai's death.

Since its opening in 2016, the facility has been inspected by the Health Inspection Service four times. Each of the four inspection documents says that no non-compliant items were identified during the inspection.

The Arizona Republic has requested complaint records from the Health Inspection Service and the inventory of all eligible marine mammals held in captivity from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine-mammal inventory. 

Dolphin deaths in the desert

Kai died Thursday morning after his condition began deteriorating and he had difficulty swimming, eating and breathing, according to a statement from Dolphinaris.

The dolphin showed signs of declining health two weeks ago and was treated, according to Christian Schaeffer, general manager for Dolphinaris.

"We made the extremely difficult decision to humanely euthanize Kai ensuring he would pass peacefully," Schaeffer's statement read.

Schaeffer did not immediately respond to more requests for comment from The Republic.

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Kai's death marks the fourth dolphin death since the facility opened in 2016, and comes just a month after Khloe, an 11-year-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, died on Dec. 30 after a chronic illness.

Other deaths included:

• Bodie, a 7-year-old bottlenose dolphin, who died of a fungal infection Sept. 23, 2017. Dolphinaris originally reported the cause of his death as a rare muscle disease, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report to local activist Laurice Dee, who has opposed the facility, that said Bodie died of a fungal infection. That prompted activists to speculate if desert conditions are appropriate for dolphins. Dolphinaris Arizona spokeswoman Jen Smith told The Arizona Republic in June 2018 that the “muscle disease was secondary to a fungal infection.”
• Alia, a 10-year-old bottlenose dolphin, who died May 22, 2018, of an acute bacterial infection that officials said “spread quickly throughout her body.”

Protests planned

In a statement issued Friday, the Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute urged the Health Inspection Service to conduct a full investigation.

“We strongly urge that the remaining four dolphins at this facility be confiscated and returned to their facilities of origin,” wrote Dr. Naomi Rose, marine-mammal biologist for the institute, in a letter Friday to the Health Inspection Service.

Rose also requested that an external team, including an expert Health Inspection Service veterinarian and an expert nongovernmental organization veterinarian, as well as other external specialists with whom Dolphinaris is working, conduct an investigation into the conditions at Dolphinaris.

The facility, which is located on the Salt River Reservation just east of Scottsdale, has faced opposition since its opening was announced, with many critics saying that dolphins do not belong in the desert.

Rose raised concerns about the risks to dolphins posed by valley fever and other aerosolized pathogens that are present in the desert.

Dee, who has called for the closure of Dolphinaris, has been monitoring the dolphins with concern.

"Four is enough!" Dee wrote in a Facebook post. "We must end dolphin captivity here in Arizona for the sake of the remaining four Bottlenoses."

Supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, will join a protest over Kai's death that is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at Via de Ventura and Pima Road, according to Dolphin Free AZ.

"Dolphinaris Arizona's deadly dolphin prison is out of touch with public sentiment — and there's no excuse for keeping it open," said Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA.

Reach the reporter at lorraine.longhi@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @lolonghi.