Dolphin Dies at Dolphinarium Constanta

The dolphin Mark, who charmed the visitors of the Constanta Dolphin Reservation for 23 years, died Wednesday night. The dolphin, a great fan of the band Las Ketchup, would have turned 32 in a couple of days. Mark’s death leaves the Dolphin Reservation with no dolphins.

According to the manager of the Constanta Natural Sciences Museums’ Centre, Mr. Adrian Mihai Manastireanu, the dolphin had died at 23.46, without any previous signs of a disease, although he was under medical surveillance.

“It was carefully watched by our veterinary. It started this season in a fabulous condition, and this is why it had three daily shows. It never showed any sign of an illness… Ten minutes before, it seemed perfectly healthy. And suddenly its nostril started bleeding, and in ten minutes, it was gone,” Adrian Manastireanu declared.

The dolphin Mark was a representative of the Tursiops Truncatus species from the Black Sea and was the most long-lived dolphin of the Constanta Reservation, under the circumstances that the average life span of his species is 25 – 30 years.

On August 28, Mark was to celebrate, beside the audience, another year spent at the Dolphin Reservation, and was to be offered, during a performance, a mackerel cake, his favourite food. According to Adrian Manastireanu, the Dolphin Reservation only has two sea lions at the time being, the couple Lorry and John, and the management of the institution is negotiating the purchase of new animals with an organization in China.

In 1986, on August 28, five dolphins from the Tursiops Truncatus species were brought to the Constanta Dolphin Reservation, This species is best adapted to captivity, and easily tamable, compared to the rest of the species living in the Black Sea: Delfinus Delphis Ponticus and Phocaena Phocaena Relicta. Of all five dolphins captured, Mark was the one who drew everyone’s attention. Longtime employees of the Dolphin Reservation mentioned that he was the leader of the group from the very beginning, as he had a strong personality.

The cause of death is yet to be established at the autopsy.


SOURCE: http://www.bucharestherald.com/dailyevents/41-dailyevents/4009-dolphin-mark-last-of-dolphin-reservation-in-constanta-died