Happy 13th Birthday, Maya!

Recently, the Dolphin Discovery staff has been very busy celebrating and continuing to commemorate a few birthdays among our dolphin family!

The first of our birthdays was celebrated by Spirit, who turned 13-years-old on April 13th. Spirit’s eyes are larger and darker in color. You can also recognize her by her crooked teeth in the lower right side of rostrum.

Spirit loves to learn new things and is very vocal and chatty. She is often seen sliding up on the decks in a game that she invented along with a few of the others!

Today, exactly one month later, Spirit’s half-sister Maya is celebrating her 13th birthday!

Maya is playful, energetic and loves to learn new things. She is lighter in color, with a light-tipped rostrum and a very pink belly!

Maya tends to be a cheerleader of sorts for our other dolphins and she always vocalizes excitedly when the others exhibit new behaviors!

Can’t celebrate Maya’s birthday in person today? Leave her a message on our Facebook page! 

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Happy Birthday, Chesapeake!

Today we’re celebrating the 22nd birthday of Chesapeake, the first dolphin to be born here at the National Aquarium!

Chesapeake, affectionately nicknamed Chessie by our Marine Mammal team, was named in honor of the Chesapeake Bay. She is mother to our youngest dolphin, five-year-old Bayley.

Chessie is easy to identify as she is smaller in size, has a short rostrum or bottlenose and is usually paired swimming with her daughter!

Chessie is an energetic and playful animal. She loves to learn new things and interact with our Marine Mammal staff!

Join me in wishing Chesapeake a very happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, Beau!

Today we’re celebrating the 8th birthday of one of our male dolphins, Beau!

A little about Beau…

• He is the son of Nani who, at 41, is our oldest dolphin.
• Nani means beautiful in Hawaiian and Beau means handsome, and that he is!
• Beau is darker grey in color and has dark shading around his chin and jaw line (which makes it look like he has a 5 o’clock shadow).
• Currently he weighs 375 pounds and he is continuing to grow as he reaches maturity.

Each of our dolphins has their own distinctive personality. In his early years, Beau was a bit of a “mommas boy,” spending most of his time close to Nani. As he has grown, we have seen a new, more playful, side of Beau. He really likes to learn and is often inventing new vocalizations to use in interactions with Foster.

Beau & Foster, our two male dolphins, love to play together!

Join me in wishing Beau a very happy birthday by leaving him a message in the comments section or on our Facebook page! 

Happy Birthday, Foster!

Foster, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin calf born at the Aquarium on September 9, 2007, is one year old today!

The dolphin trainers held a small birthday party for Foster, presenting him with special toys and plenty of well wishes. Foster’s mom, Jade, and a few other dolphins even joined in the fun! Click here to see the video!

Visitors will have the opportunity to share in the celebration this week during dolphin shows and can puchase special birthday cupcakes at the Aquariums’ cafes through Sunday, September 14. For each cupcake sold, $.50 will go toward puchasing enrichment items for Foster and friends!

Daily enrichment and play is an important part of a dolphin’s life at the Aquarium. For more information on how you can donate items to the Aquarium’s animals, visit www.aqua.org/donate.