Rare dolphin dies 7 months after rescue

For nearly seven months, Bonnie the dolphin struggled to stay alive after she was stranded with some pod mates near Caxambas Pass.

Going through a roller coaster of good days and near-death days since her rescue shortly afterward, she always managed to pull through.

Until Feb. 2.

The rare Risso's dolphin, rescued July 16 and transported to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, died around 2 a.m., officials said.

A necropsy, or animal autopsy, revealed that the apparent cause of death was a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that blocked the flow of blood to her lungs, Mote spokeswoman Jamie Tacy said Feb. 6. Necropsy results won't be available for several weeks.

In an ultrasound performed in November, Bonnie was found to be in the early stages of pregnancy. Tests showed the fetus to be viable, but it died shortly after Bonnie's death, Tacy said.

"She had been struggling and was in severe distress in her tank," Tacy said. "Staff and volunteers were unable to revive her."

Mote veterinarian Charles Manire and his staff had planned to release Bonnie and another dolphin rescued with her, named Clyde, back into the Gulf earlier. But they had to postpone the release because of Bonnie's health.

Manire plans to release Clyde on Feb. 10.

"It's unfortunate that Bonnie could not be released," Manire said. "Clyde's health has been stable, so we expect the release will move forward."

Bonnie and Clyde have been in the Mote Marine Laboratory Dolphin and Whale Hospital in Sarasota since their rescue.

Clyde has survived several close calls and illnesses, ranging from anemia to a gastric ulcer and an intestinal infection.

However, he's overcome them and has thrived, eating more than 35 pounds a day of squid and fish.

"Clyde is extremely healthy.

He's strong and ready to go," Tacy said. "Keeping him here in the tanks is not good for him.

But Bonnie had another relapse. She had a viral infection again, and she was a pretty sick lady. We nearly lost her a few times before."

The two Risso's dolphins, rare because they live in deep oceans and are very seldom seen by people, were found beached July 16 on a sandbar at Caxambas Pass south of Marco Island. Three other Risso's dolphins stranded with them did not survive: One died in the water and two had to be euthanized.

The two survivors, named Bonnie and Clyde after the notorious bank robbers of the 1930s — there were absolutely no similarities between the human and dolphin couples — were transported to Mote shortly after their rescue.

Clyde rebounded quickly.

Bonnie had no appetite, at first barely eating a quarter-pound of squid at a time. She was found to have a stomach ulcer, had to be tube-fed, then got better, then got worse. The journal kept by veterinarian Manire, veterinary technician Lynn Byrd and other dolphin hospital staff members looked like a roller coaster for Bonnie.

On Nov. 30, Manire reported that Bonnie quit eating several days earlier and seemed to have a viral infection.

"White count has gone too low," he said. "Because there are few drugs to treat viruses, we can only provide supportive therapy."

Bonnie also had a surprise for her caretakers that day: An ultrasound revealed she was pregnant.

Manire said she seemed to be in the early stages of pregnancy and the fetus appeared "quite viable" at that time.

"We would hope to release her prior to her giving birth, for the sake of the calf," he said at the time.

Manire and the hospital staff's attention has been focused on Bonnie because of her up-and- down condition, especially when they found out she was pregnant. But there's a new concern about Clyde, too, they said.

"Clyde will be released with a satellite-linked transmitter that will allow us to track him to determine where his home range is in the Gulf of Mexico," Manire said.

Tacy said the scientists don't know if Bonnie was impregnated by Clyde or another dolphin.

"We don't know how long the gestation period is, and we don't know much more about them at all because Risso's dolphins are so rare," she said.

"The species is similar to pygmy whales, but that's as close as we can get. The necropsies performed on the three other Rissos that died in July, plus the one performed on Bonnie, will provide valuable information that was never known about these animals before."