Nani, oldest dolphin at the National Aquarium, dies at 44

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - The National Aquarium is mourning the loss of its oldest dolphin.

Nani passed away suddenly Monday night at 44 years old.

Nani had been at the aquarium since 1990 and was one of their first dolphins.

They say she was the matriarch of the colony.

"She's been with us a long time," says Dr. Brent Whitaker. "These animals are family to us."

Whitaker says dolphins can live up to 60 years, but at 44, Nani had lived a long life.

"That's like a 100-plus-year-old person," he says. "We know she was aging. She had health issues associated with age."

Johns Hopkins is looking into what caused Nani's death.

"She didn't appear to be ill," Whitaker says. "There didn't seem to be anything that we didn't know she already had."

The aquarium has seven other dolphins in their colony.

Two of them are Nani's calves, Beau and Spirit.

"She was the one who took charge of all the other animals in our pool. So there's going to be a change. There's going to be a new animal that's going to rise to the top and take charge of the group. It will be a big change for them because they are very social animals," Whitaker says.

The aquarium is currently planning to build a dolphin sanctuary in Florida or the Caribbean.

They're still looking for a site, but have plans to build an outdoor facility in the sea for up to 20 dolphins.