Cayenne's Story

On March 03, 2004, the IMMS staff received a call that would change the life of a little dolphin forever.  You see, this baby dolphin had just lost everything and appeared to be facing certain death had her fate not changed the way it did on that day.

Photo courtesy of Wendy Billiot

In the remote, bayou town DuLarge, Louisiana, a dolphin calf had been separated from her mother when a levee was built. After noticing her swimming alone in a channel and beached on the levee for an unknown period of time, the locals had called the government authorities to report her stranding.  Unfortunately, the baby dolphin’s mother was nowhere to be found.  We could only assume that she had died.

Photo courtesy of Wendy Billiot

When IMMS received that fateful call, we were told to stand-by in case we were needed to help rescue this weak, young calf. The Aquarium of the Americas from New Orleans was asked to step in, since they were closer in proximity to the vulnerable animal. When the Aquarium staff reached the stranding site, they realized that the stranded animal would need more attention than originally planned. With this in mind, they transported the small dolphin back to their temporary holding facility in New Orleans , where she was triaged, stabilized, quarantined, and tested for infectious diseases - a lot of big words and big events for a very tiny dolphin!

On April 14, 2004 , under the supervision and care of the IMMS staff, she made her voyage to Marine Life Oceanarium for long-term rehabilitation. At her new home, the small dolphin would have to remain isolated and under strict quarantine, according to IMMS protocol, until she received a clean bill of health. While under quarantine, she was monitored 24 hours a day and received continuous biomedical, nutritional, psychological and nurturing care from the veterinary, training and animal care staff.

Cayenne ’s medical exam was extremely meticulous, as to ensure that the calf was on her way to good health, and that she would not impose a health risk to the other animals at Marine Life. Her health evaluation included specialized blood tests for infectious diseases such as morbillivirus, distemper virus, brucella, erysipelas, histoplasmosis, asperigillosus, blastomycosis and coccidiomycosis. More routine tests, including a blood cell count, a chemistry profile, and bacterial and fungal cultures, were done. The names of these medical tests seemed longer than our precious little dolphin, but nonetheless were extremely important. Since she was a wild dolphin, she was preventatively treated for the possibility of a parasite infection.  Some of her blood test results were slightly abnormal, though nothing showed cause for alarm. These tests were repeated in two weeks, with improved and normal results.  The only thing that was found to be contagious was her fiery, yet sweet personality. She undisputedly warmed the hearts of all that came into contact with her.

Because the little orphan was so young when she was rescued, she was completely dependent on her mother prior to stranding. As a result, she needed to receive not only biomedical attention, but also the nurturing care she would have received from her mother. It is a well-known fact that dolphins are very social animals. Therefore, their social environment is just as important in their total care and well-being as their nutrition and medical care. Since the IMMS and Marine Life staff has many years of expertise and experience in caring for marine mammals, providing this type of environment for this little miracle was no problem at all.

In fact, the most difficult thing in adopting the calf was finding a name suitable to her personality. It was challenging only because the staff wanted to give her a name that reflected her spirit and will to live. After several weeks of observing her character, (and then a couple more weeks of debate!) it was decided to brand her feisty and fiery little personality with the name Cayenne , after the red-hot cayenne pepper.

After her quarantine period, Cayenne was cleared to meet other animals that were just like her. We moved her to the Bay Pool at Marine Life Oceanarium, which would later become her permanent home. This environment would provide an exceptional social structure for her because four other Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins called this pool their home too.

Cayenne was quickly adopted by Jill, the eldest dolphin in the pool. Although Jill has never had any babies of her own, she has been a phenomenal aunt to several calves in the past, and has even served as a surrogate mother to another orphaned calf.

As of today, we are happy to report that the little orphan Cayenne has found her place not only among other dolphins, but also in the hearts of all who know her.