Shedd Aquarium Welcomes Newborn Dolphin Calf

photo credit: Shedd Aquarium

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium welcomed a new addition early on Monday. At about 12:10 a.m., Pacific white-sided dolphin Piquet gave birth to the healthy calf, estimated to be 3-feet in length and weighing about 28 pounds, according to a statement from the aquarium.

Shedd’s Karen Furnweger wrote on the Aquarium’s blog about the milestones newborn dolphin calfs must reach after birth:

During the first seconds, minutes and hours of a dolphin’s life, it must pass critical milestones to survive. As the little dolphin swam to the water’s surface to inhale its first breath, those attending exhaled in unison. First milestone passed.

The calf recognized and swam over to mom, beginning the all-important bonding process with its source of nourishment and nurturing for months to come. Sidling up to Piquet, it felt its way into her slipstream, enabling it to be carried along in her wake with minimal expenditure of the limited store of energy it has at birth. Milestones two and three initiated.

Shedd officials said that during the time mother and calf are bonding, they will be kept away from the public and will be under 24-hour observation by the aquarium’s marine mammal and animal health teams.

Check out Shedd Aquarium’s Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on Piquet and her calf.

Chicago’s Sun Times has the story.