This is great news for Sea World, especially since the last few calves that have been born there have all been males, and since the region is looking to increase the number of female dolphins in the regional collection.
The tv news said they were bottlenose. This calves mother was captive born. Other than a place at Coffs Harbour are there any other places breeding dolphins. Is there any sort of breeding program between institutions? Seaworld also have/had a major study going of the Moreton Bay population of dolphins, which from memory numbers around 200 of which most individuals seem to stay in the bay for most of their lives.
come'on jay! its me! i meant are they indo-pacific or common bottlenose! i think i remember something about them having at least one animal of a different species all together... or did i imagine that? *edit - no i didn't - they have a single indo-pacific humpback dolphin that has been captive since 1968 - must have come from the original park sea world bought most of its animals from.
Good question, I always assumed that they would be the same species as are in the bay for some reason but that needn't be the case.
the taxonomy of many species is up in the air now that genetics have come into play. cetacean taxonomy is even more complex again. many animals are identical in appearance yet behave completely differently. orcas are a good example. and then there are the beaked whales - we don't have clue what's going on there....
well I hope the dolphins know. Beaked whales. Isn't it the case that regularly one is washed up onto a beach somewhere and it is discovered to be a new species that we never even suspected existed.
I think the one you are refering to came from Marineland (which was almost next door) years ago I remember seeing it there, It had a real stubby fin and long beak, I have some photos of it somewhere
Sea World have 1 female indo-pacific humpback dolphin (sousa chinensis), who is now in her mid 50's, and the rest are inshore and offshore bottlenose dolphins (two different subspecis). the new calf is an inshore bottlenose and is the 4th generation born in Aus. Sea World took over Marineland southport in the mid 1970's and moved all of their dolphins and seals to their current site.
