Surprise! Baby dolphin on the way at SeaWorld
Pregnancy may delay park’s phase-out plan
Oops. There’s been a little surprise at SeaWorld: A 16-yearold Commerson’s dolphin named Ringer is pregnant and is due to give birth any day now.
Ringer is among a group of four Commerson’s dolphins at SeaWorld’s Aquatica water park that were expected to be the theme-park company’s last. She had been on birth control.
The pregnancy underscores the fact that while SeaWorld last year announced it would no longer breed its killer whales, accidents can — and do — happen.
“We’ve always said from the beginning with the orcas that we are committed, but nothing’s 100 percent, just like it isn’t with humans,” SeaWorld spokeswoman Aimee Jeansonne-Becka said.
There are some differences, though. SeaWorld says it has used contraception for its killer whales for more than 20 years and has a sophisticated understanding of their reproductive systems. It has used contraception only
recently in the Commerson’s dolphins.
SeaWorld expected the Commerson’s dolphins to be its last ones, but the company didn’t make a firm commitment to stop breeding them as it did with the orcas.
SeaWorld wouldn’t put babies in the wild because it wants to keep them with their families, who have all either been born or lived many years in captivity.
SeaWorld made its pledge to phase out its orcas, with the Humane Society of the United States’ backing, in March 2016. The move made national headlines and won the embattled theme-park company some goodwill after years of controversy. One killer whale was already pregnant at the time, and she gave birth last month.
“It would be, admittedly, a really difficult situation for us” if SeaWorld ended up with any unexpected orca babies, CEO Joel Manby said in an interview Wednesday.
Nick Atwood, a campaigns coordinator with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, agreed.
“That would be a tragedy, I think, if there was an unplanned pregnancy with one of the killer whales,” he said.
SeaWorld says its theme parks do everything they can to prevent conception, working with the country’s leading veterinary and scientific experts. Animal-care workers administer birth control medication and monitor ovarian cycles, separating the animals at certain times.
Should one of the killer whales become pregnant despite those efforts, the company said it wouldn’t terminate a pregnancy.
“An accidental birth would seem to be highly unlikely but not impossible,” said Michael Stoskopf, a professor of aquatics, wildlife, and zoological medicine at North Carolina State University.
Jeffrey Ventre, a former SeaWorld trainer who appeared in the anti-captivity documentary “Blackfish,” thinks it could very well happen.
After SeaWorld announced it would phase out its orcas, “I questioned it just because of the logistics,” he said. “Sometimes animals can refuse separations. I’ve seen animals push through gates before if you don’t get the gate latched in time. All these things can happen to create accidents.”
Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute, said contraceptives for mammals can be harmful if used in cetaceans too long. “They would have to take the females off of it periodically or risk health problems,” she said.
Ringer had lived in SeaWorld’s San Diego theme park until last year. SeaWorld moved her to Aquatica to join two other Commerson’s dolphins already there.
She made the move with Juan, her father, and another Commerson’s named Betsy, who died shortly after arriving. Ringer’s half-brother also is among the four at Aquatica.
In Aquatica, a clear water-slide tube runs through the animals’ 228,000-gallon habitat.
Commerson’s dolphins are known for swimming upside down and blackand-white markings that make them look like minikiller whales. In 1983, SeaWorld obtained a dozen from the wild. But the lack of genetic diversity made it difficult to breed them long-term. SeaWorld had Ringer on birth control to phase out the dolphins because the population was so small and not genetically diverse. SeaWorld has said the dolphins generally only live 15 or 16 years, although at least two reached their 30s.
“I guess the end will come a little later than we had expected,” Atwood said. “But we understand accidents happen, I guess, and we expect SeaWorld to wind down this exhibit in the future.”
SeaWorld says it is providing round-the-clock care to Ringer, and the new black-and-white bundle of joy will have a good home at Aquatica.
“She has been doing very well and her pregnancy appears to have progressed normally,” Susie Storey, another SeaWorld spokeswoman, said in an email. “Our care team and veterinary teams have put a great deal of planning and thought into preparing for this birth and to help set Ringer and the calf up for success.”