Dolphin dies at Texas State Aquarium

Cobie, a fifteen-year old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at the Texas State Aquarium, passed away early Friday, 21 September.

Cobie, who arrived at the facility in October of 2005 from the National Aquarium in Baltimore had been battling many illnesses most of the summer, and was diagnosed with pneumonia in June 2007.

The average life span of bottlenose dolphins in the wild is 45 years, yet Cobie was only fifteen years old when he died. Janja Novak, Campaigns Development Officer for the Marine Connection comments; "Dolphins in captivity frequently suffer from stress-related conditions like pneumonia, which is one of the most common death causes. To the captive dolphin industry, these facts are accepted as routine operating expenses, but Marine Connection believes these numbers illustrate that in spite of veterinary care, these wide ranging animals simply cannot cope with life in captivity."