6/29/03 Moonshine stranded two months ago and has been being cared for by The Marine Animal Rescue Society of Miami (MARS) at the Keys Marine Laboratory on Long Key. The space where the animal was being cared for was no longer available, so the dolphin was transferred to the Dolphin and Whale Hospital for continued care. The dolphin survived the 6+ hour trip with little trouble. The dolphin ate within 30 minutes of arrival and is swimming on its own.

7/2 On arrival, dolphin was very stiff and had some difficulty swimming. In addition, the scarring from the bad sunburn that it experienced at stranding pulls the dorsal fin off at about a 30 degree angle. We have begun physical therapy to loosen up the muscles and help break down some of the scar tissue in the muscles. After only two days of physical therapy, the dolphin is able to swim much better. The dolphin has actually gained a little weight in the three days at the Hospital and is eating very well.

7/3 The barrier was removed this morning from the tank and the two dolphins are now swimming together. Vixen follows Moonshine around a good bit, therefore giving Moonshine a lot of exercise. Physical therapy is going very well.

7/4 The dolphins spent all night together and seem to be "tolerating" each other. Moonshine's swimming and diving is improving every day.

7/5 Dolphins arestill just tolerating each other, but both are very active. Moonshine's liver values were up somewhat today, but still eating very well.

7/6 We are raising the water level today to allow both dolphins to be able to dive more. Appetite is very good. Wound on back is healing very well.

7/7 Moonshine is able to dive to the bottom in eight feet of water to retrieve food fish. Doing very well and eating well.

7/8 Liver values are up slightly, but swimming and appetite improves daily.

7/9 Dolphin chased down and ate a live fish for the first time last night. It appears a little lethargic today, but likely due to satiation of its appetite.

7/12 No longer lethargic, eating very well. Dolphins do not appear to be bonding at all. Will try to separate them next week and see if Moonshine does even better.

7/15 Dolphin is gaining considerable weight and swimming better. Liver values are finally starting to come down.

7/17 Vixen was moved out of the medical tank and Moonshine now has it all to himself. He is much more active now and more playful. His wound on his back is almost healed, being only about one-half inch wide at this point.

7/21 Dolphin is being quiet most of the time, but very active when stimulated. Will offer live fish this week.

7/24 Dolphin continues to do well.

7/28 Dolphin seems to be more active each day. Wound on back is about one-fourth inch wide.

8/1 We finally got word regarding DNA analysis and this dolphin turns out to be a Pantropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata. It continues to do well and its liver values continue to decline.

8/5 Moonshine is doing much better. Wound on back is almost entirely healed. Moved him into the lagoon with Vixen and the two dolphins are playing together continuously. Moonshine is diving and breaching and being very interactive. His liver values are down considerably and he is still gaining weight. See Windows Media Video (4 Mb) of interactions, HERE, or larger AVI Video (73 Mb), HERE.

8/12 Dolphin continues to do very well and is very interactive with Vixen. Wound on back is completely healed externally (see photo below).

8/14 Continuing to do well and interact with Vixen. 8/18 Continuing to do well.

8/22 Still doing well.

8/26 Liver values continue to come down and dolphin continues to gain weight.

8/28 Still doing very well.

9/4 Is becoming much more active with a lot of aerial acrobatics. Appetite is excellent.

9/9 Continuing to do very well.

9/14 Dolphin quit eating a couple of days ago, but has now resumed his normal healthy appetite.

9/17 Dolphin is now back to normal activity level.

9/23 Dolphin continues to do well.

9/30 Liver values are decreasing toward normal and everything else appears normal.

10/7 Continues to do very well.

10/17 Doing well but liver values did not decrease this week.

10/22 Liver values down slightly this week.

11/6 Liver values continuing to decline, but very slowly. Otherwise, doing very well.

11/13 More of the same.

11/18 Continuing to do very well, except liver values are still elevated.

11/27 Still doing very well.

12/3 Moonshine continues to do very well. We have changed his diet in the hope that that will bring down his liver values.

12/8 Liver values have come down significantly since diet was changed. Diet is being analyzed to determine the cause. Doing very well otherwise.

12/22 Dolphin has developed mild fungal gastritis/enteritis. Being treated with antifungals. Doing very well otherwise.

12/31 Continuing to do well.

1/5 Blood work was good today and liver values are going down.

1/15 Liver values continuing to go down, but has a mild fungal infection from the blowhole. Dolphin is very active and playful with Vixen.

1/28 Doing well and fungal infection is almost gone.

2/8 Continuing to do well.

2/13 We have started a new experimental treatment to try to lower the liver enzyme levels. Doing very well so far.

3/5 Liver values have not improved with the new treatment. Considering options, but dolphin is doing very well otherwise.

3/24 Have started another treatment for the liver. Doing well.

4/4 No change with liver values, but doing well.

4/20 Liver values have been going down for the last three consecutive weeks. We are hopeful this trend will continue.

5/7 Liver values have leveled off, still high. Doing well otherwise.

5/10 Liver values are headed down again, ever so slowly.

5/19 Liver values continue to decline slowly.

5/24 Dolphin's liver values are again down from last week and getting fairly close to normal.

6/7 Unfortunately, the liver values have gone back up again for the last two weeks. Otherwise, the dolphin is going very well.

6/29 Dolphin continues to do well, but liver values are up again.

7/6 Liver values are up again, this week.

7/14 No change.

7/21 Liver values up again.

7/27 Except for high liver values, dolphin is doing well.

8/5 No change.

8/21 Dolphin had to be evacuated for Hurricane Charley, but is now back in the Lagoon doing well.

9/1 Liver values are still up, but dolphin is doing well.

9/3 Dolphin continues to do very well. We are preparing for Hurricane Frances, so the next update may be a few days away.

9/7 Dolphin did well during the hurricane and is doing very well today.

9/16 Continuing to do well.

10/9 Still doing very well.

11/18 Dolphin has what is probably a minor sinus infection and is being treated with antibiotics. Appetite and activity level are not affected.

12/15 Still doing well. No changes.

1/5/05 Continuing to do very well.

1/23 More of the same.

2/6 Continuing to do well.

2/15 Dolphins have been temporarily moved to critical care tanks because of construction issues. Dolphins are doing very well.

2/22 Dolphin is back in the lagoon and doing very well.

3/31 Dolphin is doing extremely well and is apparently not being bothered by the construction nearby.

4/8 Moonshine was moved into the tank with Harley, although separated by a barrier. Moonshine displayed behavior that appeared to be annoyance and thus both will be observed closely for the next several days.

4/9 Yesterday, Moonshine became so agitated that he had to be removed from the tank with Harley after about 3 hours. He was returned to the lagoon for the remainder of the day. This morning he received a light dose of tranquilizer and was put back in with Harley. He was somewhat quieter, but still showed annoyance. Will see how long he can remain today.

4/25 Earlier attemps at introducing Moonshine to Harley did not work. This morning, both Vixen and Moonshine were moved to a critical care tank and Harley was moved to the lagoon. We will introduce the barrier to Moonshine and Vixen later today to see how Moonshine reacts. Then a decision will be made regarding further introduction attempts.

4/27 Moonshine reacted badly to the barrier, even with Vixen in the tank, so we moved Moonshine into the lagoon with Harley. Yesterday there was much aggressive behavior, but today we are seeing some play behaviors.

5/15 Dolphins are much more playful at this point.  All three are getting along well.

6/10 All three dolphins have been moved out of the lagoon temporarily for construction issues.  They should return to lagoon within a couple of days.

9/4 Moonshine is now with Harley after Vixen was moved to Gulf World.  Dolphin is doing very well.

10/25 Survied Hurricane Wilma well.  Continues doing very well. 

3/1/06 Dolphin is now a permanent resident at Mote, due to being declared unreleasable by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and is undergoing husbandry training for medical behaviors, enrichment training for natural behaviors, as well as training for research behaviors.  A new informational web page is under construction.

 

Moonshine and Vixen interacting.

Dorsal wound on 8/12/03, almost completely healed.