Newborn dolphin dies at SeaWorld
A newborn Commerson’s dolphin calf died just a few minutes after being born Saturday night at SeaWorld Orlando’s Aquatica water park.
The calf had been born to Ringer, a 16-year-old Commerson’s dolphin that had been on birth control. Ringer and her three male companions, including her father and half-brother, had been expected to be the last Commerson’s dolphins at SeaWorld.
Ringer previously had four unsuccessful pregnancies before coming in January 2016 to Aquatica from SeaWorld San Diego. Given her age — old for a Commerson’s dolphin — and the previous unsuccessful pregnancies, Ringer had been on contraceptives for several years.
On its blog, SeaWorld Orlando said Ringer’s unexpected pregnancy “was important to our animal care and veterinary teams. Throughout her entire pregnancy, the teams put a great deal of planning and thought into preparing for the birth to help set Ringer and the calf up for success.”
Asked earlier this month about the pregnancy, Animal Welfare Institute marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose said she did not think the calf would succeed, and the conditions they live in are “hardly ideal” for breeding.
“This is the kind of prediction I hate being right about,” she said by email Monday. “This dolphin should never have been allowed to get pregnant. It’s all such a waste and very much not good welfare practice, to allow reproduction when the odds are so against a successful outcome.”
SeaWorld said its animalcare team “responded immediately when the calf began to show signs of distress, a few minutes after birth, but unfortunately were unable to resuscitate the calf.”
Ringer is under 24-hour observation and is not currently on display in the Commerson’s area.
Lisa Lange, senior vice president of PETA, said in a statement that it was “another sad story at SeaWorld.”
A necropsy will be performed to help determine the cause of death.
Commerson’s dolphins are known for swimming upside down and for their black-andwhite markings that make them look like mini-killer whales. SeaWorld said early last year that it did not intend to breed or replace its remaining Commerson’s dolphins. Brad Andrews, then SeaWorld’s chief zoological officer, cited the small size of its group of dolphins in captivity and their short lifespan, typically 20 years or less, as hurdles to sustaining the animals’ presence in the parks.
The Commerson’s exhibit in Aquatica is a 228,000-gallon habitat that includes a clear waterslide tube through which visitors can see the dolphins. Some animal welfare activists criticized the environment. But the park sought a way for visitors to interact with the mammals, and Andrews said last year that, “They got used to it very quickly . ... We just thought it would be a neat opportunity, a very nice habitat for them to have this space.”