Updates on Sara's life

This morning at around 7:10 Rio gave birth to a beautiful baby boy dolphin. I got the call around 5 am that she was going into labor. When I got to the zoo at 5:30 (which it takes 35 minutes to get there normally, however I was speeding…sorry officer…there is a baby dolphin being born…can I go?) they were not sure yet if the rostrum (meaning it’s breach) or if the flukes/tail (the way it should be) was coming out first. You could just see her genitals open and something coming out, but you couldn’t tell what end. When the flukes popped out we all screamed/cried/thanked God. Labor was fairly short. I was above the water and we didn’t really have any indication that it was coming. An intern and I were leaning over the pool because Rio was passing and we wanted to sex the baby so we could win a free steak dinner from the supervisor. Then all of a sudden, Jenny yells, “It’s here!” Someone plowed me over in the mass chaos. I pick myself off the ground and ran to my station. There were probably 15 people stationed around the pool to make sure the baby didn’t hit the sides. Rio did a good job herding it. It took its first breath, we all cheered.

The day didn’t end without any close calls though…It was around 2:00 and Rio was about to pass the placenta. We were all standing guard so we could catch it in a net before it sunk. I saw in the monitors that she passed it, so we were trying to find it. Meanwhile I look up and the calf is on the deck, with Rio putting her head on the side, trying to get her baby back in the water. A poor zoo volunteer who didn’t know what to do was over there so an intern and I run over to push it back in the water. He got back in safely, but it was one of the scariest experiences ever. And to see Rio trying to get her baby back was heart breaking. Obviously some of us were upset, but also glad it was safe again and ok. Then I hear a co-worker commenting on how some people are too emotional. Sorry I’m not heartless. O.k. That’s off my chest. Another thing that was hard about it is the public could see it and probably scared the crap out of them too.

On a pass by the underwater viewing Robyn and Lynn were able to see the baby’s genital slit with no mammary slits present, telling us it’s a boy. He also nursed a couple times throughout the day. I had to leave at 3:00 to get to my other job, but he was doing well when I left. Oh, and I got to touch the dolphin placenta. How many people can say that? Oh, and did I mention that he is the CUTEST THING EVER!