‘Hana’ the dolphin dies at the Vancouver Aquarium
Posted May 25, 2015 9:49 am.
Last Updated May 25, 2015 12:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Sad news from the Vancouver Aquarium: a Pacific white-sided dolphin has died.
“Hana” had undergone ground-breaking bowel surgery late last week and was on round-the-clock medical watch, but passed away yesterday.
It was the first time general anaesthesia had been performed on a Pacific white-sided dolphin and the first bowel surgery ever performed on a dolphin, whale or porpoise.
The 21-year-old dolphin suffered from a gastrointestinal distension and inflammation.
“Hana has been a huge part of our life at the Vancouver Aquarium and will be greatly missed by our team as well as visitors who came to love and learn from her,” says head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena.
“I can tell you that we did absolutely everything we could to save her, including bringing in the best radiologist, anaesthetist and surgeon in the field to provide treatment, and we had an incredible team of animal husbandry staff with her in waist-deep water around-the-clock.”
Hana arrived at the Vancouver Aquarium in 2005 from Enoshima Aquarium, where she had been in care for injuries sustained from entanglement in a fixed-location fishing net off the east coast of Japan in 2003.
