Welcome Our New Baby Dolphin
Mother and calf are doing well as our pod grows to 11 dolphins

Welcome Our New Baby Dolphin

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Published Aug. 30, 2019

We’re excited to welcome our newest Atlantic bottlenose dolphin addition, a healthy boy born to mother Kalei (kuh-LAY). The calf weighed 36 pounds at birth on Aug. 27. The Zoo’s Facebook fans voted to name the calf Maui after the demigod in Polynesian mythology. 

Kalei is an attentive mother and the calf is nursing well. Our Marine Mammal staff monitored mom and baby 24/7 for several weeks after Maui’s birth. The vet staff conducted important medical checks and continues to monitor the calf and mom daily. Kalei’s food intake of high-fat fish increased after the baby arrived to help with extra needs with nursing.

Though it will be a while before mother and calf can be seen, guests can still view the rest of our pod from the underwater viewing dome in the St. Vincent Dolphin Pavilion. Our daily dolphin presentations will continue with a chat about dolphin training and will utilize lower audio levels allowing quiet time for Kalei to care for her new calf.

Maui and the other members of our Atlantic bottlenose dolphin pod are ambassadors to their counterparts in the wild. The dolphin presentation in the Dolphin Pavilion sheds light on the health of the waters where dolphins live in the wild and what we can do here in Indiana to make their world a healthier place. The presentation features local families and the steps they take each day to avoid single-use plastics to help ensure healthy oceans free of plastic that put dolphins and other sea animals at risk.

Zoo Babies are presented by Hendricks Regional Health.

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