Resident Dolphin Health Updates

Rosie

Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)

Rescue Date

2/10/2023

Current Age

2

Rescue Reason

Stranded, Hearing Loss

Health History

Through extensive hearing tests, it was determined that Rosie is deaf and cannot echolocate. CMA has limited information about Rosie because she is a relatively new addition. During Rosie’s rehabilitation, CMA treated her gastritis, which are common findings in a rehabilitation scenario.

Health Updates

8.31.24

Rosie was introduced to Hope in August and the team is working on building their relationship.

7.31.24

Rosie had her quarterly exam in July and there were no health concerns.

5.19.24

Rosie had her quarterly exam in April and there were no health concerns.

11.28.23

Rosie is continuing to show improvement so we are now offering her access to other pools.

We will continue to provide her daily hydrations while we are slowly returning to her normal diet and monitor closely for any change.

Thank you for keeping her in your thoughts and for your support of the animal care team.

11.24.23

Rosie continues to show incremental improvement.

11.23.23

CMA’s veterinary team and animal care specialists closely monitored Rosie overnight. As of this morning, Rosie has shown a slight improvement from yesterday. She is more alert and vocalizing.

CMA’s veterinary team and animal care specialists are continuing to monitor her health. They will determine when the next diagnostic tests will be needed to assess Rosie.

We are extremely thankful for all they do today and all year round to care for our animals.

As we receive more health updates on Rosie’s condition, we will continue to share them here.

11.22.23

Our veterinarian and animal care team are continuing to monitor Rosie. This morning they performed diagnostics on her and she appears to have an inflamed pancreas. She also has an unrelated infection. The team is treating her aggressively with medications and supportive care and monitoring her closely.

As we receive more health updates on Rosie’s condition, we will share them here.

11.21.23

Rosie did not eat during her regular feeding time this evening and was exhibiting some behavioral changes. Our veterinarian and animal care team are watching her closely to monitor any changes.

8.11.23

Rosie has been doing well with her nebulizer training and started treatment for a mild upper airway infection. She is doing very well with the treatments.

She is also on an antibiotic for her GI to help with a bacterial imbalance.

6.26.23

Rosie is acclimating to her new environment. We are proactively guiding her to voluntarily participate in nebulizer treatments and other husbandry behaviors.

Izzy

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Rescue Date

6/30/2022

Current Age

8

Rescue Reason

Health decline and inability to forage for food due to repeated illegal human interaction in the wild.

Health History

Izzy came to CMA because of frequent interactions with people, becoming accustomed to watercraft, despite repeated injury, and people holding, feeding, and attempting to ride her. Izzy is not able to survive in the wild due to a reliance on illegal human interaction and her inability to forage adequately for food, deeming her non-releasable and prompting her rescue. Izzy has chronic corneal scarring on her left eye from an unknown cause in the wild, but she retains vision around the scarring. CMA is still establishing her medical baseline, because she is a relatively new addition.

Health Updates

6.30.24

Izzy had her quarterly exam in June and there were no health concerns.

5.19.24

Izzy had her quarterly exam checks in March and there were no health concerns.

6.26.23

Izzy was receiving antibiotics for possible bacteria in her blowhole. There are no other chronic medical concerns that CMA is aware of at this point. As Izzy transitions into our care from the wild, she is exhibiting some behaviors that we are working with a researcher to better understand.

Rudy

Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)

Rescue Date

12/16/2019

Current Age

6

Rescue Reason

Stranded, Hearing Loss

Health History

Through extensive hearing tests, it was determined that Rudy is deaf and cannot echolocate. He has a history of intermittent infection in his blowhole, which has responded well to nebulizer treatment. He also exhibits regurgitation and the team is working with an independent researcher to manage and monitor.

Rudy has an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that CMA monitors closely. Rough-toothed dolphins are an offshore species that may have increased airway sensitivity to a coastal environment. They also have sensitive gastrointestinal tracts, which is something we closely monitor and manage accordingly.

Health Updates

11.21.24

Rudy’s health continues to improve daily. Our dedicated animal care and veterinary teams are working closely and tirelessly to support his ongoing recovery and ensure his forward progress. While Rudy still requires treatment, we’re seeing encouraging signs in both his diagnostics and overall behavior. Most heartening of all, Rudy is showing more of his playful personality—engaging with his favorite toys,  Rosie and his caregivers. We’re optimistic about his continued progress.

9.21.24

Rudy will be housed in the medical pool temporarily while we are modifying his diet to give extra nutrition with gruel. The extra calories will help his body to heal faster.

9.18.24

Rudy has been intermittently battling pneumonia since he was sick in May. The team is continuing to monitor his health and behavior, and we are working with other veterinary and marine mammal experts, including researchers to ensure the best treatment strategy.

5.29.24

Rudy is continuing to show improvement. He is interacting more with Rosie and more attentive to staff each day. His bloodwork and ultrasounds are also showing improvement. We will continue to provide hydration and gruel until he is transitioned back to his regular diet and monitor closely for any changes.

5.23.24

The animal care team noticed some changes in Rudy’s behavior on May 21. While he remained stable, he had a slight decrease in his appetite and energy. Diagnostics were performed immediately and identified some abnormalities unrelated to his pneumonia. His treatment was modified appropriately and we carefully observed him throughout the day to ensure his comfort and well-being.

As the day progressed, it became apparent that Rudy’s condition wasn’t improving as much as we expected. His treatments were adjusted, and the animal care and animal health teams made the decision to monitor him overnight to ensure any changes could be addressed immediately.  Throughout the night, the animal care specialists observed some behavioral signs of discomfort in the early evening, which started to improve towards morning and into the next day.

The animal health team will keep monitoring and rechecking diagnostics as appropriate. To keep him hydrated and allow his GI to rest, we will give him gruel, which is the equivalent of a fish smoothie to aid Rudy’s digestion while we slowly increase him back to his regular diet.

Our expert veterinary and animal care team members will continue to work around the clock to ensure Rudy’s wellbeing.

5.19.24

Rudy was diagnosed with pneumonia earlier this year and we are continuing to treat him. He had a bronchoscopy in early April and we were able to modify his treatment based on the results. He initially responded well, but in the last couple of weeks, his diagnostics have not shown improvement. We are consulting other experts to discuss treatment options. He appears to be stable and is still eating and behaving normally. The animal health team will continue to monitor him closely and share updates.

2.20.24

Rudy had follow-up radiographs and appears to be responding positively to treatment. We will continue to monitor his progress closely and adjust his treatment if needed.

2.9.24

Rudy was recently diagnosed with pneumonia and is undergoing treatment. Our veterinary team is monitoring his response to treatment and adjusting as needed.

6.30.23

No new health updates at this time.

Hope

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Rescue Date

12/11/2010

Current Age

12

Rescue Reason

Stranded, Orphan

Health History

Due to her young age at stranding, Hope is a little slower to adapt and can be sensitive to changes in her environment, which can manifest as regurgitation. The team works with an independent researcher to manage this behaviorally. Hope also has a history of chewing on her tongue. This behavior is no longer occurring.

Hope has also had episodes of intermittent  gastritis and a mild, chronic anemia that CMA monitors closely. Intermittent growth of Candida has also been found in blow samples.

Health Updates

6.30.24

Hope had her quarterly exam in June and there were no health concerns.

5.19.24

Hope had her quarterly exam checks in March and there were no health concerns.

6.26.23

Hope was receiving antibiotics therapy for mildly elevated white blood cell count. Diagnostics have shown resolution of the elevation.

Hope’s anemia has also resolved.

Nicholas

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

Rescue Date

12/24/2002

Current Age

21

Rescue Reason

Stranded and suffered severe sunburns. Deemed non-releasable after his mother passed away shortly after stranding together.

Health History

Nicholas arrived at Clearwater Marine Aquarium at six months old with second- and third-degree sunburns. He was treated with daily wound care by staff until the wounds healed. The scars are still visible, but have not caused long-term pain or complications. Nicholas also has a couple healed rib fractures from unknown causes.

Nicholas has had mild intermittent gastritis, which is monitored and treated as needed. Nicholas also has several bacteria with varying levels of antibiotic resistance that are consistently monitored. He had a brief episode of mild, static anemia, which we monitored and has since resolved. Intermittent growth of Candida has also been found in blow samples.

Health Updates

6.30.24

Nicholas had his quarterly exam in June and there were no health concerns.

5.19.24

Nicholas had his quarterly exam checks in March and there were no health concerns.

8.11.23

Nicholas is doing well and off all medications.

6.23.23

Nicholas is responding well to treatment and diagnostics have improved.

6.19.23

CMA has identified inflammation through diagnostics and is monitoring and treating it appropriately.