Deaths Of 4 Dolphins At Clearwater Aquarium Not Staff's Fault: Experts

CLEARWATER, FL — A panel of five outside experts commissioned by Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO Joe Handy concluded the death of four dolphins over 16 months was not the aquarium staff's fault.

The independent team took four months to release the 42-page report Tuesday confirming that the animal care staff was not responsible for the dolphins' deaths. In fact, the dolphins, as confirmed by necropsies, all died of complications due to injuries that occurred in the wild.

Those injuries led to U.S. Wildlife Service's decision to permanently house the dolphins at the aquarium. Releasing them back into the wild with their injuries would have been a death sentence, concluded the the Southeast Stranding Network of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The review team included Rita Stacey Vondra of the Chicago Zoological Society and the Texas State Aquarium; American College of Zoological Medicine Board-certified aquatic veterinarians, Lara Croft and Andrew Stamper, with combined experience of 55 years in cetaceans (marine mammals); Paul Cooley, a water quality expert with over 40 years of experience; and James Gesualdi, an animal welfare lawyer with 34 years of cetacean and regulatory experience.

Based on the assessment, the review team found in nearly all situations, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium veterinary staff and the animal care team appeared to adapt, respond quickly and reasonably to the case presentations, reaching out extensively to appropriate veterinary colleagues and pivoting as the cases evolved.

In addition, there were no identified environmental or water quality issues that contributed to the deaths.

Related:

• Death Of Dolphin Apollo Mourned At Clearwater Marine Aquarium
• Rough-Toothed Dolphin Rex Dies Unexpectedly At Clearwater Aquarium
• Oldest Dolphin, PJ, Dies At Clearwater Marine Aquarium
• Sudden Death Of Dolphin Hemingway Leaves Aquarium Staff Devastated
• Amidst Tragic Loss Of Winter, Aquarium Finds Reason To Celebrate
• Winter The Dolphin's Death Mourned By Fans, Aquarium Staff

The first to die on Nov. 11, 2021, Winter, was rescued as a 2-month-old calf after being tangled in a crab trap line resulting in serious injuries that led to the loss of her tail flukes. Due to her young age and disability, Winter would not have survived without CMA's rescue efforts, concluded the review team. After living for 16 years at the aquarium where she was immortalized in the Warner Bros. film, "Dolphin Tale," Winter ultimately died of a twisted intestine that was most likely related to her earlier injuries.

The other two bottlenose dolphins, Hemingway and PJ, were rescued at rather advanced ages (midc30s and late 40s). Hemingway had serious respiratory issues and hearing loss. PJ had significant hearing loss.

The rough-toothed dolphin, Rex, suffered from aspiration and fungal pneumonia during his initial rehab and had severe hearing loss impacting his echolocation.

“CMA is the only marine hospital and aquarium in the United States with its entire resident dolphin population composed entirely of stranded, rescued, rehabilitated and non-releasable animals, said Handy, who was named CEO in October 2022. "They all lack the ability to survive in the wild, and as a result, these are high-risk patients with a higher mortality rate.”

PJ, who lived at the aquarium for two years, was 51 years old when she died in October 2022. Since dolphins feed using echolocation, hearing issues can lead to serious problems. PJ exhibited “seizure-like behavior” and fractured her skull by accidentally swimming into an underwater window.

Hemingway, who lives at the aquarium for three years, died in January at the age of 37. According to the report, the male bottlenose dolphin was inattentive and resisted medical examinations. He also suffered from hearing loss. The necropsy showed that Hemingway also died of twisted intestines, which may have been the result of pre-existing gastrointestinal disease, gastrointestinal parasites or anatomic abnormalities.

Eight-year-old Rex, a rough-toothed dolphin who lived at the aquarium for three years, died in March, after a bout of pneumonia that turned into gastritis and septicemia.

Apollo, a 4-year-old bottlenose dolphin, died at the aquarium last week just as the review team was finished its report.

Apollo also had catastrophic hearing loss and suffered from gastrointestinal issues.

“The report,” Handy said, “tells us that our team is doing an incredible job taking care of the medically compromised marine mammals that we’re charged with taking care of. It tells me we can pride ourselves in the jobs that we’ve done in giving them the best lives possible, no matter how long that might be.”

The review team, however, did make 60 recommendations, including:

• Create a female-led social pod to teach new dolphins how to live in health social groups.
• Develop a long-term population management plan that includes a balance of dolphins born in managed care and stranded dolphins that have been rescued.
• Prioritize special care and training for dolphins with severe hearing loss and provide periodic auditory exams.
• Create a culture of shared responsibility among the veterinary team when making medical decisions.
• Allow veterinarians to focus on medical care, not administrative tasks.
• Add a nutritional consultant to care for animals with gastrointestinal issues.
• Create a more natural water quality system including the addition of fish to the dolphin habitats.
• Develop a new animal management program that include behavioral observation and documentation, and allow animal care team members to report concerns anonymously.

“Many of the recommendations are ideas that our staff has been working on and researching to incorporate into animal health, environment and culture already,” Handy said.

Current rescued dolphins living at the aquarium all have health issues including Hope, age 12, Nicholas, 21, Izzy, 7, Rudy, 5, and Rosie, a juvenile.

This week, Rudy and Rosie, both rough-toothed dolphins, who had been separated in two different pools, became roommates and the animal care team will work with them over the next few weeks to get accustomed to living together.

In the meantime, the community is invited to help Nicholas, a bottlenose dolphin, celebrate his 21st birthday at the aquarium Saturday.