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Dolphin released where she beached

Val, a 22-year-old female bottlenose, doesn't seem the same creature rescued in February.

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published May 25, 2006

Val went home this week, released in Old Tampa Bay near the spot where she was rescued earlier this year.

Staff and volunteers from the Mote Marine Laboratory's Dolphin and Whale Hospital in Sarasota and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium released Val on Tuesday morning.

But Val, a 22-year-old female bottlenose dolphin, was far from the same mammal in distress that was found stranded on a mud flat near Oldsmar on Feb. 12.

On that cold Sunday morning, kayaker Chris Marshall spotted Val stranded about 200 yards offshore, called authorities and paddled out to wait for help. Marshall talked to the 10-foot-long dolphin, stroked her skin and splashed her with water to keep her wet in a cold, whipping wind.

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium responded, but rescuers found the mud so impassable that it was easier for them to crawl over the flats, aided by their kayaks, than to walk through the muck. After hours of work to get the dolphin onto a stretcher that was then placed on a foam mat, they brought her in as a crowd of 200 watched. Then they took the dolphin to Mote for rehabilitation.

Because she was rescued close to Valentine's Day, rescuers nicknamed her Val.

The day she was rescued, Val was dehydrated and underweight and had abscesses that were a combination of viral, bacterial and fungal infections, according to Mote staffers. Caregivers at Mote immediately started Val on fluids and antibiotics. After nearly 100 days of rehabilitation, Val was approved for release by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Upon her release Tuesday, Mote scientists immediately began tracking her, using a small VHF radio transmitter that will send information about her movements for three months.

Generally, according to the Mote lab, rehabilitated dolphins are released as close as possible to the place where they stranded. Based on where Val was stranded and DNA analysis, Mote researchers concluded that her home range was in the shallow waters of Old Tampa Bay.

[Last modified May 25, 2006, 00:55:15]