Dolphin & Whale Hospital Mote Marine Laboratory

Current Patients Vixen (Steno bredanensis) Moonshine (Stenella attenuata) Harley (Stenella longirostris) Former Patients Seven Dwarfs (Steno bredanensis) Mayo (Tursiops truncatus) Caesar II (Tursiops truncatus) Toro (Tursiops truncatus) Jack (Tursiops truncatus) Carter (Tursiops truncatus) Simone (Kogia sima) CR (Tursiops truncatus) Armand (Kogia breviceps) Ami (Kogia breviceps) Anna (Kogia sima) Maria (Kogia sima) Jade (Tursiops truncatus) Nemo (Kogia breviceps) Mia (Kogia breviceps) Jason (Kogia breviceps) Dana (Kogia breviceps) Hemingway (Tursiops truncatus) Hutch (Kogia breviceps) Ginny (Delphinus delphis) Peanut (Tursiops truncatus) Hercules (Steno bredanensis) Holly (Steno bredanensis) Pumbaa (Mesoplodon europaeus) Pasco (Feresa attenuata) Vera (Kogia breviceps) Alvin (Steno bredanensis) Blitzen (Steno bredanensis) Comet (Steno bredanensis) Donner (Steno bredanensis) Abbey (Feresa attenuata) Buster (Tursiops truncatus hybrid coastal/offshore) Gulliver (Tursiops truncatus offshore stock) Mark (Tursiops truncatus) Belle (Tursiops truncatus) Benny (Tursiops truncatus offshore stock) Juno (Kogia breviceps) Richey (Kogia breviceps) Lunar (Feresa attenuata) Freeway (Tursiops truncatus) Matt (Tursiops truncatus)

Case Synopsis for Carter

aka MML 0329 and HBOI-0317 and Critter

Species: Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)  Age Class: Juvenile Gender: Male Date Stranded: 9 Aug 2003 Location of Stranding: Indian River Lagoon, Florida Date of Arrival at DWH: 11 August 2003 Number of Days of Care: 74 days Final Disposition: Released on 23 October 2003 in Indian River Lagoon
Carter on arrival. 8/11 The mother of this calf stranded dead, leaving the calf as an orphan. The calf is in relatively good health and was transported to Mote's Dolphin and Whale Hospital by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. The calf is about one year old and is already eating whole fish readily. 8/14 Yesterday, the dolphin took live pinfish very aggressively. The bloodwork on the dolphin looks very good and his appetite is excellent. More live pinfish were offered today and he took them well. We are looking into releasing him very soon. 8/18 Dolphin continues to eat everything offered to it. We are hoping to be able to release this animal in the next week or two. 8/22 Calf continues to do very well and appetite is excellent. 8/26 Exam today revealed that the dolphin is gaining significant weight and all tests are within normal limits. Plans are underway to move ahead with a release in the near future. 8/28 Second morbilivirus titer was negative today and the dolphin continues to do very well. 9/4 Blood work and appetite are good and plans are moving ahead for release. 9/9 Blood work was good this morning. Still working on plans for release. 9/14 Continuing to do very well. 9/17 Still gaining weight and doing very well. No word yet on release. 9/23 Dolphin was set for release next week, but a fungal gastritis was found this morning. Release will be delayed for a couple of weeks until it can be resolved. 9/30 Samples this morning indicated that gastritis is resolving quickly. Will continue on treatment for one more week. 10/7 This morning's sample indicated gastritis is competely gone. We are requesting release in two weeks. 10/17 Things are looking good for a release very soon. 10/22 Dolphin has been declared medically fit for release and plans are ready for a release later this week. 10/23 Dolphin was released back into his home range this morning. He was immediately joined by a mature female and the two are staying together, at least for now. We hope they will stay together to improve his chances of adapting back to the wild. He will be tracked continually for about 40 days to insure his safe adaptation. 10/28 Dolphin continues in the wild. He has been interacting with other animals and has been foraging. So far, so good.

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