GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - On the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we’re remembering the miraculous survival story of eight local dolphins who were found swimming together in the Gulf after the storm.
At Marine Life in Gulfport, now known as the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, a nearly 38-foot tidal wave swept the tank. After 13 days, all eight dolphins were found swimming together in the Gulf.
After months of rehabbing here on the Coast, the dolphins went to live at Dolphin Cay Atlantis in the Bahamas, and that’s where they still live today.
“It was dirty. We had all sorts of debris. And for them to stay together was a miracle,” said Moby Solangi, IMMS president. “Three of them were captive-born. They didn’t have any hunting skills. Some of them were older animals, so they had a hierarchy, and they all kept together. We trained them in the water, we brought them back, and they all survived.”
The Katrina dolphins not only are surviving, but they’re thriving. They began reproducing immediately after moving to the Bahamas, and they’ve had at least 12 calves.
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