SeaWorld Orlando returns bottlenose dolphin to lagoon after months of care

On Tuesday, SeaWorld rescuers returned to the wild what may be the sole survivor of a mysterious die-off that has killed at least 74 bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon this year.

The male dolphin swam to freedom from Melbourne Causeway, after almost five months of care at SeaWorld Orlando, 140 pounds heavier than when biologists rescued him.

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Marine Mammal: Bottlenose Dolphin

No surprise here: the bottlenose dolphin is typically thought of as the most intelligent non-human animal after the chimp and bonobo, and the more research we do, the more impressive dolphins become. They've been known to teach each other games and tricks, like walking on their tails or blowing bubble rings; they can use tools (dolphins off the coast of Australia learned to keep sponges over their noses to protect themselves from spiny but delicious urchins); they've been trained by the navy; they've been proven to understand at least some elements of the concept of numbers. However, it's difficult to measure the dolphin's intelligence due to its capabilities as a mimic. Is it learning, or copying? Who knows?

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Die-off of bottlenose dolphins, linked to virus, is worst in 25 years

A widespread die-off of bottlenose dolphins off the Mid-Atlantic Coast — the worst of its kind in more than a quarter-century — almost certainly is the work of a virus that killed more than 740 dolphins in the same region in 1987 and 1988, marine scientists said Tuesday.

Since the beginning of July, 357 dead or dying dolphins have washed ashore from New York to North Carolina — 186 of them in Virginia. Authorities have received numerous additional reports of carcasses floating in the ocean, said Teri Rowles, director of the marine mammal health and stranding response program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service. The actual number of deaths is certainly greater, she said.

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