Jacki is beautiful and graceful, Elijah and Noah – the boys – love to play, Naia is adventurous and Jill, the eldest of the bunch, has a great personality.
These are the distinct personalities of some of the 16 dolphins, ranging in age from four to 40, who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and now have a new place to call home at Atlantis.
It took precision planning and some highly agreeable dolphins, but finally 16 of the 17 so-called “Katrina” dolphins are now at an acclamation habitat on Paradise Island, where they will remain until next year when Atlantis’ permanent facility opens.
The journey, for some of the dolphins, took up to 15 hours and was implemented by more than 150 people.
In about 18 inches of water and on stretchers specially designed for dolphins, Jill, Kelly, Jacki, Michelle, Tamra, Toni, Noah, Elijah, Cherie, Brewer, Katelyn, Johnah, Wee Tee, Echo, Sasha and Naia, were transported to Mobile, Alabama from temporary locations around the US, and loaded onto an airplane to Nassau for the final stage of their trip.
After arriving on Paradise Island the dolphins were transported immediately to the saltwater acclamation habitat in Nassau Harbour.
“Everybody was comfortable,” Teri Corbett, vice president, Marine Mammal Operations, told The Bahama Journal during a visit to the dolphin facility. “If they felt anything like I did the next day, they were sore. There was a little bit of fatigue for everybody involved.”
Ms. Corbett, a veteran marine mammal trainer and water themed park specialist, was a part of the Atlantis team of attendants who rode with the dolphins during their transfer to Nassau.
Nine of the dolphins were evacuated before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and eight dolphins left behind at the Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi, washed out into the Gulf of Mexico when the tidal surge swamped their tanks.
According to Ms. Corbett, the dolphins, who have been at the facility for just over a week, are doing very well and within a minute of arriving at the habitat began eating food, “a very positive response to their transport.”
Preliminary blood tests on the animals have already begun, and are good, she says.
Eventually all of the animals will be tested.
Overall physicals are conducted on the animals about two to three times a day, “to make sure that if they did get a little bump or a bruise that we are following it closely,” said Ms. Corbett.
When news of the dolphins’ possible travel to Paradise Island first hit the news, concerns were raised by a US veterinarian that the animals may have been infected with the Morbillivirus, said to be the cause of serious disease in several types of animals and in people.
But Ms. Corbett emphasised that all of the animals at the facility are healthy.
There is one dolphin, Toni, who was exposed to the virus, but is not infected and is not a carrier, according to Ms. Corbett.
“It’s similar to getting the measles when you are a child. You’re now exposed to that but you are not a carrier of that. That’s what this animal has,” Ms. Corbett explained.
“We have had many different veterinarians in the US and ones recommended by the Bahamian government review this animal specifically and they found that she is not infectious.”
The seventeenth dolphin, Tessie, is still in the Gulfarium, and has a fast acting and fatal fungal infection.
“So far she is doing well and showing good signs. She is the longest living dolphin with the disease but we are hoping that she does recover and can be moved down here. We all agreed that because of the stress involved, the move would not be in her best interest,” said Ms. Corbett.
Ms. Corbett also invited local environmentalists who have concerns about how closed facilities affect dolphins to visit the habitat, which is nine feet deep, has a natural sand bottom and is filled with 1.5 million gallons of Bahamian ocean water. The temporary habitat also contains three large lagoons, six holding pools and two medical pools that have lifting floors.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we just invite them to come out and see our programme, see the dolphins and that there are a lot of people here who are dedicating their lives to the care and well-being of the these animals every day,” she said.
The dolphins’ permanent habitat, which is currently under construction, will be an 11-acre lagoon located on Atlantis’ grounds and designed to exceed facility regulations set out by the US and the world, according to resort officials.
Interaction pools that go up to the shoreline of the beach will allow visitors to interact with the dolphins but guests will not be allowed to free swim with the animals, said Ms. Corbett.
“A lot of these animals have been involved in interaction programmes where they once were, so it’s not new to them, but we have a very structured interaction programme. We want it to be safe, we want it to be educational, we want it to be fun,” she said.
Ms. Corbett said that once completed, the habitat will be the largest in the world. It will contain three interactive coves, complete with sandy beaches and the dolphins will live in seven interconnected resident pools containing more than six million gallons of water.
The facility will also serve as the first marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation facility in The Bahamas, and have a strong education proponent.
“We want to go out into the community and bring school children in to learn more about dolphins, biology, habitats and conservation in the environment,” said Mr. Corbett.
A “Katrina Kids” programme will also be implemented, targeting children directly affected by the hurricane and involving trips for the young hurricane victims to Atlantis to visit with the “Katrina” dolphins.
Until their move, the dolphins are being allowed to get used to their environment and build relationships with their new trainers, going through an estimated 400 – 500 pounds of high quality herring and caplan fish per day.
The dolphins have been kept in their normal social groups and together occupy four different large holding pools. Eventually, they will all be put together.
“We want them to relax, get to know each other, get used to the sights and sounds of their new environment,” said Ms. Corbett.
There are 45 staff members – 80 percent Bahamian – at the temporary facility, including marine mammal specialists, a lab manager, full time veterinarian and support staff, and that number is expected to grow to 270-plus employees when the permanent habitat is completed.
Roscoe Dickenson, director of marine mammals operations who has worked with a number of dolphin facility programmes throughout the country, said that the facility on Paradise Island is better than what he has previously seen.
“The animals are adjusting fine, it’s been one week now and we’re making good strides and progress,” Mr. Dickenson told The Bahama Journal.
Mr. Dickenson was also part of the teams that were sent to the locations of the 17 dolphins to interact with them in preparation for their journey to and their stay in Nassau.
Along with testing the animals, tests have also been conducted on the water in the area, all of which have been done on-site at the state-of-the-art lab, clinic and pharmacy that has the capacity to carry out a large number of tests, diagnostics and treatments.
“We did water testing in this specific area for more than a year [before the dolphins arrived], also on the other side of the harbour, and on the beach side,” said Ms. Corbett, who said that tests show the water is very good and normal on both sides.
Sound tests were also conducted with the help of a team from Sea World’s research institute to make sure there would be no harmful sounds in the long term for the animals living at the habitat.
Andrew Clarke, lab manager, said that the on-site lab serves two immediate purposes – one to treat any illness that may come up, and two, to help prevent anything from occurring – medically or biology – on property.
“We have a full pharmacy that can dispense all medication and vitamin supplement needs for the animals,” said Mr. Clarke. “A blood sample from the dock to [the lab], we can probably produce a result in 20 minutes to half an hour.”
While the transfer of the dolphins sparked some controversy, for now, the animals appear to be adjusting to their new surroundings and new trainers, according to the staff.
“Each one of them in their own right has a very independent, different personality, and it’s just amazing to watch them adjust and socialise together and come together in this environment. It’s an incredible experience,” said Ms. Corbett.
“They’ve been exhibiting play behaviour, breeding behaviour, socialisation behaviour – everything – everybody’s adjusting well.”
By: Erica Wells, The Bahama Journal
