Previous
Caring for dolphins
WTDN - Jan08
Caring for dolphins
Vets and their special patients
There are 18 bottlenose dolphins at Dolphin Encounters on Blue Lagoon Island, from year-old calves to a 40-year-old matriarch. And according to the assistant director of mrine mammals, Annette Dempsey, knowing the unique personality of each one is vital to maintaining its health. "We have a specialist vet, Dr Sam Dover, who comes over quarterly from California," she says. "But it's usually the trainers who spot problems fist, by noticing when a dolphin's moody, or upset, or acting out of character."
Dr Bethany Doescher, head vet at Dolphin Cay at Atlantis, agrees. Wild animals are very good at not appearing weak, says Doescher, because in nature weakness makes you look lie prey: "So by the time it's obvious that something's wrong with them, it's really wrong. That's why it's so important to establish a rapport, and pick up on their signals. We want to prevent illness, not cure it."
The 27 dolphins at Atlantis, like theircounterparts on Blue Lagoon Island, are fed restaurant-grade fish, hydrated with fresh bottled water, and examined by their trainers every day. "We want the exams to be stress-free," says Doescher. "Just a matter of routine." When a dolphin turns on its bck for a trainer it may be offering its belly for a rub, or the underside of its tail for a routine blood test. "We teach them to get used to the needle by tapping them, or some people flick them with an elastic band. We can usually get dolphins giving blod voluntarily by six to ten months old."
Sea lions are a little less obliging, and at up to 500 pounds in weight need to be handled with care. For the ten sea lions at Atlantis, their physical is like a rehearsal for showtime. They pretend to yawn, liftup their flippers to sniff themselves, or lie flat and roll over, while their trainers take the opportunity to examine their teeth, check for wounds or listen to their hearts with a stethoscope.
Once again, it's all about giving the animals a routine the are comfortable with, so treatment doesn't feel like anything out of the ordinary.
Well-trained staff
Doescher was a dolphin trainer for eight years in her native Hawaii before she became a vet, graduating from the University of Colorado in 2003. "A lo of the necessary skills I picked up on the job." She has been in charge of the marine mammals' welfare at Atlantis since June, and is delighted with Dolphin Cay's state-of-the-art facilities, with its six isolation pools for sick animals and a lab that wuld put many hospitals to shame.
Dempsey also learned to train animals while studying for a degree in marine biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and believes that the psychological health of her dolphins needs as much attention as their hysical well-being. "We're always trying to keep them interested and teaching them something new."
Dolphins' regular interaction with humans plays a big part in keeping them healthy and alert, she says: "We have a breeding programme at Dolphin Encounters The pregnant females participate with activities up to within six hours of giving birth, and maternity leave is usually two to four weeks. By the end of it, the mothers can't wait to get back to work."
Ardastra's exotics
Many of the exotic animals at Arastra Gardens also mingle with visitors. Since 1994, Dr Susan Clubb has been coming over to Nassau twice a year from her Rainforest Clinic in Florida to make sure the animals are in tiptop health.
She too places a premium on the animals' happiness, and raises the keepers at Ardastra for their intuitive understanding of the creatures in their care. "It's all about watching them, and their body language, and understanding what it means."
Although she admits to a thrill every time she has to clean the jagar's teeth-after first tranquillizing it-Clubb says her favourite patients are the flamingos. "They're unique, the way they pose and march. And we've got them breeding, which is a sign that we're doing something right."
Clubb's role at Ardastra is to peform tests and vaccinations and supervise the animals' welfare. Day-to-day injuries and illnesses are handled through calls by Dr Peter Bizzell and his team at the Palmdale Veterinary Clinic.
"We're not specialist zoo vets," says Bizzell, "so it's an excting diversion." Bizzell is an Anglo-Welshman who came to The Bahamas in 1970 after "a Damascene moment calving a cow in a ditch outside Bristol in November. I thought, there's got to be something more pleasant than this."
After living in Freeport for 2 years he moved to Nassau in 1995 to work as senior vet for the Humane Society, which was when he began to get involved at Ardastra.
He has performed a hysterectomy on a monkey, treated an ocelot for kidney trouble and performed many small surgeries on hs favourite animals, the lemurs: "They fight a lot, especially when they get into love triangles."
However, the standard of care at Ardastra is high, he says, and has improved steadily since he first started treating animals there: "So actually we get fwer and fewer things to do."
Nevertheless, whether dealing with parrots, capybaras or pot-bellied pigs, he always keeps in mind the advice given him by his first boss: "There are two types of vets-careful vets, and vets without fingers!"
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.