Further tests needed to determine death of dolphin
Posted March 11, 2012 12:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – He’s been a star of sorts for more than a decade at the Vancouver Aquarium but staff there are now mourning the death of a favourite.
‘Spinnaker’ the dolphin died Thursday, March 8th.
Head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena says the aquarium staff affectionately called him ‘Spin.’
The Pacific white sided dolphin was initially rescued in 1991 off the coast of Japan but spent a decade being rehabilitated. He ended up at the Vancouver Aquarium in 2001 and quickly became known for his high jumps.
Aquarium staff say he was part of their family, but over the last several months Spin was battling illnesses and was under 24-hour watch.
“He was a stranded animal and stranded as an adult,” explains Dr. Haulena. “So we know he was at least 26-years-old but he could have been older than that.”
Spin seemed to be doing better until staff found his lifeless body was found floating at the bottom of his tank at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. Dr. Haulena says a necropsy hasn’t turned up anything and more in-depth tests are needed.
“Those will take some days. The biggest one that will hopefully shed the most light on this situation is called histopathology. That involves taking a microscopic look at all the tissue samples we took. We will also be doing some microbiology and toxins analysis as well.”
Dr. Haulena adds there’s a chance they may never know how Spin died.
The last dolphin to die at the Vancouver Aquarium was Laverne, a 31-year-old female who passed away in 2009.
