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Volume 1, No. 8. May 18, 2001

Eternal bliss
If progeny means immortality, then Albert lives on in a big way. But he almost waited too long.

Albert was an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at Gulf World in Panama City Beach, Florida, the first resident dolphin at the park which opened in 1969. By then he was already at least 10 years old. On June 14, 1999, he died at an estimated age of between 40 and 48, almost twice the life span of the average dolphin in captivity, and three times longer than those in the wild.

Though Albert had company—the marine park had six other bottlenose dolphins at the time of his death—he had not been a successful breeder. "It wasn't for lack of trying," said Christa Hild, marketing and public relations director for Gulf World. Dolphins are often prone to miscarriages, and many newborns don't live beyond the first few months.

So it was that Gulf World waited a whole year before announcing this week that Albert had successfully bred before he died: not once, not twice, but thrice. All three females in his former habitat turned up pregnant shortly after his death. Now the dolphins in that habitat number six. Allie was born October 9, 1999, and Jasmine and A.J.(as in Albert Junior) arrived last May.

Part of the sudden breeding success may have been due to new facilities, too. Gulf World embarked on a $7 million expansion that included a 1-million-gallon (3.8 million liters) dolphin habitat comprising three separate pools. The exhibit, which opened a year ago, also pumps natural seawater directly from the Gulf of Mexico lying across the highway from the park, with a filtration system that circulates more than 6,000 gallons per minute (22,800 liters per minute). Allie was born in the old pool, and the other two were born in the new habitat. All three are healthy and even taking part in the daily shows with their mothers.

Papa would be proud. Always the park's most popular performer, Albert's fame just keeps growing.

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