All 4 dolphins found! Being rescued and reported on MSNBC. Yay!!!!!!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

[Rainscents]

1. Alright! Great News!!!

[derby378]

2. I thought there were five... (n/t)

[Debau2005]

3. 8

There were originally 8. 4 had been rescued last week and over the weekend. As of last night they had not seen the other 4 for a few days.

[derby378]

45. Thanks!

And thanks to everyone else who responded.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. There were 8 originally and 4 have already been rescued. These remaining

4 left the area where they had been sighted, and now they found them!

[Penndems]

10. Hallelujah!

I was hoping they'd make their way back home. :)

[question everything]

24. Thanks. Great news (nt)

[skylarmae]

6. there were 8 at first - they rescued 4 and then couldn't find

the other 4 out in the ocean....Does this mean they found the remaining?

[Field Of Dreams]

7. I think there were 8 originally?

4 were already rescued. The remaining 4 from the original group disappeared for awhile.

Glad they found the others!

[CottonBear]

4. Woo hoo! Those dolphins stuck together. Amazing story of survival!

:woohoo: :) :woohoo: :) :woohoo: :) :woohoo: :) :woohoo: :) :woohoo: :)

[AirmensMom]

8. Great news!

:bounce:

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. What a relief! iIwas so worried about them!

I'm THRILLED they've been rescued!

[SeattleGirl]

11. Hooray!!!!

Thanks for letting us know. I'm so glad they were found.

[HereSince1628]

12. Dolphin returned to captivity=rescue?

There is a certain irony to reading that.

It may be that dolphins from aquaria aren't ready for a natural existance, but it certainly looks strange.

[malaise]

14. Have to agree with you

The dolphins have been recaptured. Looks like they survived in their natural environment for almost three weeks.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. I believe that most if not all were born in captivity. nt

[malaise]

40. Didn't know that but they seemed to be doing fine

at sea - they've been there for weeks.

[Beaverhausen]

41. No, in fact they were weak and thin

they didn't know how to "feed" themselves.

[malaise]

48. OK thanks for that

whatever's best for this group, but I prefer them in their natural surroundings.

[Beaverhausen]

49. well of course I agree with that

but since these particular dolphins are already "unadapted" to their natural habitat this is the best outcome. At least for now.

:hi:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

42. No, they weren't. The were hungry and needed antibiotics.

All eight were treated when they were originally found. 4 were rescued first because they were in the worse shape and the rescuers intended to come back for the remaining 4 which disappeared for a day or so.

[Lex]

44. Absolutely not. They were raised in captivity and

didn't have the same skills as dolphins raised in the wild.

They were hungry and weak and needed to be rescued.

[txindy]

50. Oops. No, not quite. They don't know how to feed themselves.

And they needed antibiotics since they wouldn't go out to sea and away from the toxic waste they were swimming in. They need their people. That's all they know. I'm all for dolphins returning to the wild, but only if they have a chance of survival. There was no chance in this.

[pitohui]

15. the dolphins wanted to be rescued

when the pod of 8 was first located the other day, it was clear they were seriously underweight & they were eager to gather around their human friends agn

these are pampered animals

3 of them are captive bred & have no experience of life in the wild

i'm sure life in the wild sounds all fine & romantic, but if you were a star of a show, where ppl paid good money to feed you fish all day long, & one day a big storm swept you out to sea, and it's suddenly looking like from now on you're gonna have to find yr own food & be just a face in the crowd of thousands of wild more aggressive & more knowledgeable dolphins...you'd wanna be rescued too

anyway i'm glad to hear it, i've spent many pleasant hrs there & hope all of these friendly dolphins can be returned to good health

[MoonRiver]

28. I still think they could have made it on their own, but they obviously

wanted to be "captured", so its probably for the best. I would really have worried about them with another 'cane on the way.

[HereSince1628]

32. I'm a zoologist, not a romanticist. It still seems ironic

And, actually, it seems to raise the ethical question of whether these dolphins have been treated fairly in captivity.

We have all kinds of rules about cage size, feeding, etc. But if you don't provide an animal with appropriate stimulus, so that it could actually survive in its natural environment can we really say that the animal was treated fairly? I don't know.

I would say that assuming that the dolphins "wanted" to be rescued is highly anthropomorphic. It seems more likely that they recognized the sources of their routine feeding and having been deprived of handouts they hung around their rescuer/re-captors.

None the less I still think captivity=rescue twists the mind a bit.

[pitohui]

36. these animals are well treated & well stimulated, i have seen them

these are v. sharp animals who know how to entertain, they don't just sit on their "tails" all day

i agree i'm a bit anthropomorphic

i would not want to be left in my "natural" environment, give me my nice home & the sooner it's rebuilt the better!

[HereSince1628]

38. Well, that's well stimulated by a definition you accept

If it results in dysfunctional dolphins it begs the question of being sufficient.

[leftchick]

46. I agree with you

I am glad to know they are safe but rescued? I would be willing to bet they would have made it on their own. Animal natural instinct is way underestimated.

I also don't like the fact that they were used for human entertainment. They were made to do tricks for people. Oh what a life! :eyes:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

51. Ages of the Dolphins

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9343538/

The dolphins range in age from 4 years to 40. The two youngest are the males, Noah, 6, and Elijah, 4. The females are Jill, 40; Kelly, 31; Jackie, 31; Tamara, 20, Shelly, 20; and Toni, 17. Jackie is the mother of Toni and Elijah; Kelly is Noah’s mother.

With this alone, do you really think they could make it on their own. I personally don't think they can. As it was, they were found hungry and had lacerations and infections from swimming through all the debris when the tank they were held in was destroyed by Katrina.

[leftchick]

53. I don't know

The young ones were born in captivity and probably still may have had a chance. I was just trying to point out that they never should have been in an aquarium for human amusement in the first place.

I am indeed happy they have been found.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

55. I understand how you feel. I am not a huge fan of zoos and aquariums

myself. I remember years ago visiting the old Central Park Zoo crying when I watched an elephant rocking back and forth in endless boredom. The big problem is that with so many species being endangered because of "civilization" one of the best places for people to appreciate these beings is at zoos. That appreciation might someday cause some action to protect them in the wild.

I just saw an update on the dolphins on The Today Show. A boater spotted the 4 doing "tricks" in the gulf about 15 miles from where they had grouped previously, and realized they were the missing dolphins. All of them are now in navy saltwater tanks and look very happy. They have balls and hoops in the tank, they are keeping near their trainers and are turning over on their backs for belly rubs.

[MaineDem]

16. I know what you mean

I did hear something the other day that suggested they couldn't live in the wild because of their lack of survival skills. (Seems they've done okay for two weeks.) But "rescuing" them to bring them back to captivity does sound a bit odd.

With all the death and destruction, however, it's good to hear of this news.

[Pirate Smile]

29. They were severely anemic which is why they were feeding them

vitamins and antibiotics along with a lot of food so they could regain their strength.

[MaineDem]

33. Thanks, I hadn't heard that. (nt)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

39. Exactly. Thank you. nt

[Debau2005]

17. Rescue

These dolphins were born and raised in captivity and had never been in the wild. The trainers were concerned that they would not be adapted to survive in the wild.

[HereSince1628]

25. I got that. I'm just saying it seems a bit ironic.

[calimary]

27. A report I heard said that they were all life-in-captivity dolphins.

As such, they've never known life in the wild, and never had any mom or dad dolphins teach them about it, hence a poor prognosis for survival in the wild.

To survive at all, they have to return to captivity. I'm just glad they've been found so they can be rescued.

ALL EIGHT stuck together after the storm, and were found together. AMAZING!!! If that isn't a testament in favor of the buddy system, I don't know what is.

[HereSince1628]

35. Group work sucks, as any Orangutan will tell you

Dolphins are by nature gregarious. Why wouldn't a preformed (if artificial) group stick together. This _is_ amazing, but I think it falls far short of a general endorsement of the buddy system. TO see that is to impose OUR perception on them, much like the rw is currently doing re penguins.

[Be Brave]

13. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

:woohoo:

[texpatriot2004]

18. Good news all dolphins okay n/t

[Another Bill C.]

20. Like Dorothy said.

"Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home. Home! And this is my room, and you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!"

[MaineDem]

21. Off topic but I was reading about a "dolphin experience"

One of those "swim with the dolphins" places. And this company was stopping them because they felt it wasn't really fair to submit the dolphins to that.

[Cleita]

30. Thank god! n/t

[Blue in a Red State]

22. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

[MoonRiver]

23. YAY! YAY! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:HAPPY, HAPPY, DAY!!:bounce: :woohoo::bounce:

[David Zephyr]

26. Heatwaming news to my home.

Great news!

[MsTryska]

31. They should so totally make a movie.....

an animated adventure, along the lines of Shark Tales and Finding Nemo, or even that latest pampered zoo animals wind up in the wild animated flick.



It would totally make a great movie - and the added bonus of the "if we stick together we can make it through anything" morality tale.

[NightOwwl]

34. Oh, that makes me so happy!

I heard yesterday that 4 were still missing...I thought for sure they had been killed by predators.

This is such good news! :bounce:

[lonestarnot]

37. Yeahhhhhh! Thanks for posting!

[pepperlove]

43. PTL!!! n/t

[nonconformist]

47. WONDERFUL news!! nt

[Piperay]

52. WONDERFUL

makes me :cry: for HAPPINESS! :bounce:

[bluedawg12]

54. They are safe and healthy, I saw them swim up to the boat

on TV and interect with the humans.

Later they were in a pool playing with a ball and some hoops.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/12697560.htm
Dolphins displaced by Hurricane Katrina rescued from the open water

"Marine biologists feared for the safety of the dolphins because the animals had spent most of their lives in captivity and were not fit to survive in the wild.

"Three of the dolphins were born at the facility, and had never been in the wild, compacting our concern for their well being," said Moby Solangi, owner and director for the Marine Life Aquarium. "Once we realized the dolphins had been swept out to sea during the hurricane, we feared that they had died."

The dolphins appeared to have some large lacerations and were as much as 100 pounds under weight, said Jeff Foster, a NOAA contractor and the marine mammal biologist who led the rescue."