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After six weeks of isolation 'Stormy' is now making a splash in public. For the first time since he came here people are seeing this young dolphin in person. Sharon Schultz, Indiana: "I think it's amazing that he's still alive, quite frankly, with all the trauma he's been through." That trauma involved losing his mother being attacked by sharks and washing up on a Texas beach. Stormy is healthy now and has just been introduced to the other dolphins here. They put the 2 females in this small pool and closed the gate. They put Stormy in the big pool, and let him swim around for a while, and then opened the gate so the three could get acquainted. There was a lot of fast swimming and whistling going on. It seems Stormy really caught the eye of the 2 older females! Chris DeAngelo, Mystic Aquarium: "They were very excited, they were swimming all around, it'll take some time to introduce themselves to each other but so far it's been going great In fact Stormy has joined Nina and Misty in the daily demonstrations here. He's not up to any tricks yet but most people seem fascinated by how he overcame his ordeal. Dean Houldcroft, Newington: "My wife and my daughter saw the scars and were wondering what happened to him, so we went upstairs, it was good to find out the whole story." Leslie Watt, Sandwich, Mass. "It's pretty fascinating he survived, it was a rough tropical storm, the kids I think are more interested in his scars, his battle scars! heh heh heh." Those scars are healed but the tip of his dorsal fin is gone for good, making Stormy the most recognizable and certainly the most admired dolphin around. Ultimately there may be a lot of action going on in the dolphins' pool. Experts at the aquarium say the two females may find Stormy to be a very attractive mate, especially during breeding season. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT |
Injured dolphin improving, swimming with others