Sad outcome for Castaway

Despite hopes that the dolphin nicknamed "Castaway" could be returned to the wild sadly, due to her deafness, she is now facing a lifetime of captivity.

The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin nicknamed "Castaway" found stranded at Castaway Cove, Vero Beach on 12 November 2006 was taken to Mote Marine Laboratory where medical tests carried out on 16 November showed the dolphin was pregnant but otherwise healthy. On January 30 2007, the dolphin was deemed healthy enough for release. However instead of swimming offshore, Castaway returned to the beach four times and was taken to the Marine Mammal Conservancy where further tests showed the dolphin to be deaf. Castaway gave birth to a male calf on 11 June 2007, which was named 'Wilson', however the young dolphin died 4 days later.

Recently NMFS (the National Marine Fisheries Service) said that the dolphin either had to be released or transferred to a facility which displays, not rehabilitates, dolphins. Due to her deafness Castaway was not considered a fit candidate to be returned to the wild, so unfortunately she is being forced into a life not of her choosing.

Castaway has now been transferred to the Dolphins Plus lagoon in the Florida Keys where visitors can pay to swim with the dolphins. Marine Connection considers this a rather sad development to the story of Castaway as she is now facing a life in captivity, having to interact with humans who will pay to swim with her, rather than living out her days as a semi-wild dolphin under the care of humans.