 |
This site was created by |
 |
|
 |
|
New home for the dolphin pod that survived Katrina
Date : 21/01/2006
Eight tame dolphins that miraculously survived after being swept out to sea during Hurricane Katrina were this week flown from Alabama to a new home in the Bahamas.
On August 29 last year, when the hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States, a giant wave swept them from their oceanarium into the muddy waters offshore. Two weeks later, the dolphins - which had stayed together - were spotted from a helicopter that was patrolling the coast in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Suffering from cuts and bruises, the dolphins reportedly approached a coastguard boat, lifting their heads out of the water to make contact with people.
Their owner, Moby Solangi, from the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, said: "They were really starving, but when they recognised their trainers they started flipping."
This week, the dolphins - Shelly, Kelly, Jill, Noah, Tamara, Toni, Jackie and Elijah - were loaded on to a DC8 cargo plane in specially constructed containers and flown from Alabama to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.
Their new home is the 34-acre resort of Atlantis on Paradise Island. "None of the dolphins showed any signs of distress during the two-hour flight," said Frank Marru, an Atlantis biologist. "Even Jill, who at 41 is a very old lady, seems to be doing fine."
An expansion of the 2,300-room resort is scheduled to open early next year and the dolphins will form part of a new attraction.
Source: Telegraph