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ADRIENNE P. SAMUELSYoung Nicholas, found beached and severely sunburned, is now almost fully healed and acts like a normal, playful dolphin.
Like most youngsters approaching puberty, Nicholas is getting a little frisky.
And that's a good thing.
It's an indication that the 11/2-year-old dolphin is recovering from life-threatening, third degree sunburns that once covered 25 percent of his body.
The burns, which six months ago had coated his back and surrounded his blowhole, have now subsided to an 18-inch long, 3-inch wide sliver of burned flesh.
Nicholas doesn't scream and flee from the trainers anymore when they enter his pool. He also willingly allows them to scrub the burn with medicine.
Only thing is, he's having a little trouble figuring out that his purple beach ball isn't quite a female.
"Right now he's very sexual," said Melissa Koberna, with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. "Looking at him, you would think he's great. But until that burn completely heals, there's still a risk of infections."
Nicholas and his mother, Noelle, were burned when they beached in 8-inch-deep water off Bullfrog Creek in Hillsborough County. The mother dolphin's sunburn may have gotten infected and added to the illness that caused her death, rescuers said.
Nicholas' was infected too, and he was still nursing, so scientists had to create a special vitamin milk for him and teach him how to drink it through a tube.
Eventually they weaned him off milk. Now he's eating 11 pounds of fish a day.
He's gained weight, too, pulling in at 154 pounds instead of his original, sickly 113 pounds.
And finally, the aquarium says, Nicholas is acting like a normal, playful dolphin.
"He's a very unique animal," said Dennis Kellenberger, the aquarium's executive director. "The whole top part of his body was burned. The fact that he survived is incredible."
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a kind of 911 service for marine life. It's a "working" aquarium with a specialty in saving beached animals. The staff also keeps track of sea turtle nests and hatchings.
There are two other dolphins at the aquarium, but Nicholas is still being kept apart in a 15-foot deep tank at the back of the building. He plays incessantly with a floating purple ball and a floating joker's cap. And now that he's feeling better, he turns on his side to gaze up at the trainers when they come to feed, scrub and weigh him.
It is unlikely that the dolphin will be able to return to the oceans, aquarium officials said, because the dolphin doesn't know how to find its own food or stay away from enemies. A final determination will be made by a federal marine life agency. Still, any decision would take at least six more months, officials said. The wound must completely heal before the dolphin is safe from disease.
"We want his immune system to be totally up and running," Kellenberger said.
Nicholas' brain is working fine, said trainer Abbie Brewer, 23, of Dunedin. Brewer has been teaching the dolphin how to be still in a contraption that takes him out of the water and weighs him. She also has gotten him used to having the wound scrubbed with a cloth.
Of course, every accomplishment comes with a reward: a whole fish.
Kevin McKay, 29, of Lakeland, volunteers at the aquarium. A zookeeper at Lowry Park Zoo, McKay regularly dons a wetsuit and jumps into the tank with the dolphin to help facilitate the weigh-ins.
"He's very touchy," said McKay, who works with primates at the zoo. "He's very tactile. He sees people and gets excited.'
- Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com