Do my flippers look fat? Chunky dolphins put on low-fat diet

TOKYO — Dolphins at a Japanese marine park are going on a low-fat diet after developing pot bellies and failing to look sharp in their aquatic performances.

Kinosaki Marine World in western Japan said Tuesday that all its 19 dolphins have been on a low-fat diet since late August, when they started failing to hit jumping targets and keep upright while treading water. “We were puzzled by their poor performance, then we noticed they looked rounder,” said park spokesman Haruo Imazu.

Keepers measured their weight and found all had gotten plumper, some up to 22 pounds heavier just during the summer. All had the same menu — about 31 pounds of mackerel mixed with some white fish — but keepers found the mackerels had gotten fattier, adding too many calories for the dolphins.

Keepers immediately put them on a weight loss program, feeding them more white fish and less fatty mackerels, while instituting a routine exercise regime, Imazu said. Less fat and moderate exercise seemed to be working, he said.

-- Associated Press

Dottie gives birth to number four

Dottie, an Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin at SeaWorld San Diego, has done it again: her fourth offspring.

After a 12-month pregnancy, Dottie gave birth Tuesday. The babe is 30 to 36-inches in length, an estimated 45 pounds. The father? Well, that's a guessing game among the males that swim in the same pool with 21-year-old Dottie.

It will be awhile before the offspring -- sex yet unknown -- joins the show. But she's viewable on the backstage tour.

Tony Perry, in San Diego

Photo: The newborn Atlantic bottlenosed dolphin, with mother Dottie. Credit: Mike Aguilera, SeaWorld

MGM Mirage in Vegas probing death of dolphin

MGM Mirage officials are investigating the death of a dolphin at an aquatic habitat at The Mirage (pictured above) on the Las Vegas Strip. The Associated Press reports:

Company spokesman Gordon Absher said Monday that animal care officials were still trying to determine why the dolphin, named Sage, died Saturday morning.

The dolphin was born at the habitat in May 1997.

Correcting earlier reports, Absher says 13 dolphins have died at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat since the attraction opened with five dolphins in 1990. He says that number included five that were stillborn or died shortly after birth.

The dolphin habitat offers tours to the paying public, birthday parties, “trainer for a day” and group tours in addition to being rented as a setting for private events.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Like mother, like son

A newborn dolphin swims with his mother, Finagain, on Thursday at the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk in the Netherlands. The baby dolphin can be seen by the public, who will later name him in a contest, officials said.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Ida Smit/AFP/Getty Images

Dolphin dies during Sea World show in Florida

A dolphin at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., has died after colliding with another dolphin while performing aerial tricks, the amusement park said Monday, Orlando Sentinel reports.

The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Discovery Cove area of the park during a stunt-filled show, according to a statement by SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides.

The animals were in the center of the lagoon and about 50 feet away from spectators, she said.

Sharky, a 30-year-old female dolphin, was performing a jump when she collided with the other mammal and died.

"While it is not unusual to have two animals performing aerial behaviors at the same time, we are reviewing the situation to ensure even such a random incident does not occur again," Bides said in a statement.

The dolphins pictured here performed at SeaWorld in San Diego.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Denis Poroy/AP