June 8, 2006

AQUARIUM DOLPHIN, HANA, DOING WELL AFTER DELIVERING STILLBORN CALF

Vancouver, BC – Eleven-year-old Pacific white-sided dolphin, Hana, is doing well after delivering a stillborn calf last night. Animal care staff have been closely monitoring Hana, who is eating well, seeking rubs from her trainers, and has allowed them to do fully body examinations on her.

Yesterday at around 9 a.m., Hana’s water broke and she went into labour. After a couple of hours it became clear that the birth was not progressing well, and the Vancouver Aquarium’s veterinary team moved her into the medical pool to perform a physical examination and ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed that the unborn calf was still very high in the abdomen and appeared to not be moving nor have a heartbeat. Aquarium veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena administered treatment to help Hana’s labour progress after her contractions stopped.

“We were very concerned for Hana’s health,” said Aquarium veterinarian Martin Haulena, after the birth. “It looks like the calf died a couple of days ago, which means it wasn’t giving the signals to Hana’s body for her to deliver it.”

Animal care staff will continue to monitor Hana closely.

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For further information, please contact:

Brenda Jones, Manager, Public Relations

publicrelations@vanaqua.org