SeaWorld San Diego said Dottie, its long-time Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, has died at 39. The park announced her death in an Instagram post on Sunday, May 31, closing a chapter that had stretched across more than two decades in San Diego.
Dottie had been part of the park since 1999, when she was relocated from SeaWorld Orlando in Florida. She was known for her strong personality and curiosity, and SeaWorld said she was deeply connected to the care team that watched over her and to the guests who came to know her over the years.
The dolphin’s life carried unusual medical history that made her death land with extra force. In January 2010, Dottie went into acute kidney failure because of complications from kidney stones, then became the first dolphin to be put on dialysis and have those stones removed. She recovered later that year and returned home, and SeaWorld said the treatment was followed by another 15 years of life.
That long recovery is what makes her death at 39 more than a routine announcement. Dottie survived a serious illness that once put her life in danger, and she went on to become the devoted mother of four calves while remaining a familiar presence to the people who cared for her. Dr. Roger Sur, who took part in the procedure, said the moment was challenging, exciting and scary, and recalled being right next to her fluke with only a thin margin between his 160 pounds and her 500.
SeaWorld said Dottie would be deeply missed by the team and by the countless guests who connected with her during her remarkable life. The park did not announce a cause of death, leaving the final unanswered part of her story to the one detail it has not yet given.
