Whale Web Forums: Kiwi dies at Gulfarium

Kiwi, the pantropical spotted dolphin at Florida’s Gulfarium, has died.

Initial results found that the 17-year-old dolphin suffered a respiratory complication, according to a news release from Gulfarium.

“It’s a devastating loss to the Gulfarium family,” said Stacy Didonato, assistant show director at the marine park.

The female dolphin arrived at the Gulfarium in the fall of 1993 when she was only a few months old. She was one of five dolphins who stranded themselves on Pensacola Beach that September.

She was 3 months old and weighed 28 pounds when rescuers found her.

Initially, she was held in a quarantine pen in Santa Rosa Sound with an older dolphin named Mango, who died a few days later. Kiwi was taken to the Gulfarium after a cold snap hit the area.

She was rehabilitated for several months and was raised on a “baby dolphin formula.” The National Marine Fisheries Service eventually decided to keep her in captivity because she didn’t have the skills to survive in the wild.

At the time, she was the only pantropical spotted dolphin in captivity.

The decision to keep Kiwi at the Gulfarium was controversial, but officials ultimately decided to let her stay. She eventually bonded with an older bottlenose dolphin named Bubbles.

In 1998, Kiwi was put to work as part of a therapy program for a group of students with learning disabilities.

“She has taught us so much about her unique species … from a stranded calf to a thriving adult. She beat the odds from day one,” Didonato said.

Pantropical spotted dolphins are relatively small, usually between 6 and 7 feet long. As adults, they are covered in spots and can live to be about 46 years old.

Veterinarians are still conducting tests to determine the cause of Kiwi’s death.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/okaloosa-26688-dies-dolphin.html

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~ Kim