#dolphinaris

[orcinus-ocean]

[csnews]

Dolphin Quest terminates contract with Dolphinaris

FOX 10 - February 2, 2019

Dolphin Quest, the company that loans dolphins to Dolphinaris, has terminated its contract with the Scottsdale facility following the recent death of Kai. The company released the following statement.

"The Dolphin Quest team is heartbroken over the loss of our beloved Kai, a 22-year-old male dolphin, who died Thursday while in the care of Dolphinaris Arizona. The exact cause of death is unknown at this time pending the results of a post-mortem analysis. Kai was on loan to Dolphinaris, located in Scottsdale, AZ, where he participated in education and experiential learning programs for the public. As of yesterday, Dolphin Quest has formally terminated its animal loan agreement with Dolphinarius, and it is evaluating next steps for the remaining two Dolphin Quest animals.

'The safety and health of our animals is out top priority,' says Dr. Rae Stone, Co-Founder of Dolphin Quest. 'In spite of their best efforts, the animal health concerns have not been resolved at Dolphinaris. We have a senior marine mammal specialist from Dolphin Quest onsite at Dolphinaris who knows our remaining dolphins well and is closely monitoring them. They are bright, alert and in good condition at this time. We have contacted USDA and are working with them as we move forward.'

While we grieve Kai and the other losses at Dolphinaris, we are focused now on the remaining dolphins and the best options for them."

[girlwiththeorcatattoo]

Dolphinaris Arizona gets out of the dolphin business, moves all 4 dolphins to the Virgin Islands

Dolphinaris is getting out of the dolphin business, after transporting their remaining dolphins to Coral World Ocean Park in St. Thomas.

[tepiddreamer]

Third Dolphinaris Arizona dolphin dies

NEAR SCOTTSDALE (3TV/CBS 5) -- Dolphinaris Arizona said Monday that another one of its dolphins has died.

*long sigh*

I talked briefly about this facility last year, and I had a hunch something was up when a friend (who lives within site of the facility) said that the protestors were back and in a frenzy over the holidays. I am sad to know it was due to another death.

That is 3 dolphins in 2 years, 2 in 2018 alone. And not exactly old animals either, Alia was 10 and Khloe was 11.

The kicker about this death is that Khloe was ill before being transferred to Dolphinaris. There has been scrutiny over the years if the animals are truly all captive born (a promise made by the facilities owners during construction) but in reality despite Khloe possibly being in remission during her transfer she was a poor candidate for transfer in the first place.

With 7 animals left there has been talks within the facility of starting a breeding program (no, please no) and considering that they can’t seem to monitor the animals correctly during routine bloodwork/urine analysis I can’t see this being a positive for the animals. The other issue is that despite having several pools it would be difficult to separate the mother and calf during the critical first few weeks from the males of the group. The mother/calf would have to be separated into the back enclosed pool from the main group, since the main pool is used exclusively for the daily interaction programs.

As for the Dolphinaris said a necropsy (animal autopsy) will be performed on Khloe that it "will share those findings with the global veterinary community ...." the only reason we even know these findings is due to discovery from the protestors and leverage from the local news companies. So yes, you want the full necropsy report? Its buried behind a paywall. For the global community.

Dolphins do not belong in Arizona. I don’t care that dolphins live in arid or desert regions in the wild. This is not the wild. This is a for-profit grinder that is already planning to move 2 more animals in from their international facilities to fill the gap.

[csnews]

Dolphinaris: Necropsy results gave no clear indication on what caused third dolphin’s death

Clayton Klapper - February 15, 2019

Dolphinaris announced Friday that preliminary necropsy results gave no indication on what caused the death of Khloe, the third of four dolphins that died in the company’s care since 2017.

Bodie: The male bottlenose dolphin died on Sept. 23, 2017, from a "rare muscle disease," the facility said.

Alia: The female bottlenose dolphin died on May 22, 2017, from an "acute bacterial infection" that "spread quickly through her body," the facility said.

Khloe: The female bottlenose dolphin died on Dec. 31, 2018. "Khloe came to Dolphinaris with a pre-existing chronic health condition caused by a parasite called Sarcocystis, which weakens an animal’s immune system. While we wanted the necropsy to tell us more, sometimes tests are not definitive. In fact, it is common that tests never pinpoint exactly what caused an animal’s passing, particularly one like Khloe who had lived with a health condition for six years," the facility said.

Kai: The male bottlenose dolphin was euthanized on Jan. 31, 2019, after he showed signs of "difficulty swimming, eating and breathing" and his health continued to decline, the facility said. A necropsy (an animal autopsy) is pending and the results have not been released.

The most recent death was reported when Dolphinaris announced that 22-year-old bottlenose dolphin Kai had to be euthanized on January 31.

The facility has since temporarily closed their doors, and it's unclear what the future of the location will look like. As of Friday, the facility says they're still waiting to transfer some of the remaining dolphins out of the location.

"It will happen some time in the next month. We do not announce when exactly it will be, for the safety of the dolphins," the statement read. "It requires a lot of coordination and care on both ends and needs to be done in a calm environment with no distractions (such as onlookers and helicopters). We ask the media to respect this. We will let you know once they have arrived safely in their new home."

A representative for the company says employees are "not permitted to do interviews" because of threats some animal caregivers have received from activists.

[csnews]

Update: Dolphinaris Arizona announces temporary closure to evaluate facility

Scottsdale Independent - February 6, 2019

Dolphinaris Arizona near Scottsdale will be temporarily closing beginning Friday, Feb. 8 while an outside panel of experts reevaluates the facility, environmental factors, and all aspects of animal welfare at the facility, officials say.

The closing is a voluntary and proactive measure by Dolphinaris while the team works with an outside panel of experts to investigate potential factors that may have contributed to the death of dolphins at the facility since its opening in October 2016.

The investigative panel includes veterinarians, pathologists, water quality experts and animal behavior specialists who will assess all aspects of the facility and operations and report their findings and any recommendations, according to a press release.

Dolphinaris is committed to applying the highest zoological standards and most recent animal welfare science when attempting to provide environments that meet the animals’ behavioral and physiological needs, the press release stated, adding that it is committed to ensuring the wellbeing of the remaining dolphins.

Two of the four remaining dolphins which were on loan to Dolphinaris from Dolphin Quest, will be transferred back to Dolphin Quest. The other two remaining dolphins will be transferred to another licensed U.S. facility while Dolphinaris Arizona is evaluated.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of our dolphin friends and are grateful to the efforts of our staff and partners during these difficult times — especially our trainers, who have given so much love, time and energy to caring for our dolphins and educating our guests,” Dolphinaris General Manager Christian Schaeffer de Leon, said in a prepared statement. “We hope to find a long term solution for the welfare of our dolphins.”

Dolphinaris Arizona is located in the OdySea In The Desert Complex on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community at Via de Ventura and the 101 in Scottsdale. Dolphinaris Arizona is a licensed facility, has met and exceeded all U.S. government standards, and passed all inspections by the USDA with no violations, the press release stated.

[csnews]

Khloe the dolphin dies at Dolphinaris Arizona

January 1, 2019

Dolphinaris Arizona on facebook:

Dolphinaris Arizona is deeply saddened to announce the death of an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Khloe. The female dolphin died Dec. 30 following a long, chronic illness that had affected her over the last six years. The 11-year-old Khloe joined Dolphinaris Arizona in 2016.

“This is an extremely sad day for our team at Dolphinaris Arizona,” said Christian Schaeffer, General Manager. “Prior to her arrival at Dolphinaris, Khloe struggled with chronic illness due to a parasite called Sarcocystis, which can affect mammals, including dolphins. This infection usually causes severe central nervous system and muscle disease, as well as weakens the immune system to other pathogens. Her condition has been managed with exceptional veterinary care for nearly six years as we called on dolphin experts globally to determine treatments that extended her life.”

When Khloe’s caregivers recently noticed her health again showing signs of decline, they took every action possible to try and save her. The mortality rate of Sarcocystis is very high, and very little is known by the veterinarian community about the disease process in dolphins, which can also affect dolphins living in the ocean. A necropsy (animal autopsy) will be conducted and Dolphinaris Arizona will share those findings with the global veterinary community in the hopes the information can aid in the treatment of other mammals affected by Sarcocystis. The other dolphins living at Dolphinaris are all doing well. The Dolphinaris staff appreciates the condolences and support from the community during this difficult time.

[respectanimalrights]

BREAKING: An anonymous source for the Empty the Tanks campaign in Mexico has informed our team that another dolphin has died at the #Dolphinaris Riviera Maya location. A female dolphin named Ashin has allegedly died nearly one month ago in her tank. Read more by going to the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #DolphinProject #emptythetanks2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Iixm-jDpV/?igshid=sq3oyd97uqut