Exploring Dolphins In Aquarium Museum

Exploring Dolphins In Aquarium Museum , Chesapeake was the first dolphin born at the National Aquarium, and she is the mother of our youngest dolphin, Bayley. Maya is a half-sister to Chesapeake (via dam, or mother), as well as a half-sister to Spirit (via sire, or father). Jade is the mother of Foster. All seven dolphins were born in an aquarium or zoological park.

This colony structure represents a complex social group for the dolphins and provides them with essential relationships. Bottlenose dolphins live in a matriarchal society, due to the level of care that females provide to their young; the males live in separate social groups consisting of a few members that are called bachelor groups or alliances. Here at the National Aquarium, we house our animals in what we call a nursery group, which consists of our females and our pair-bonded males.

Nani was the mother of Beau and Spirit. She passed away on Monday, February 27, 2017, after living at the Aquarium since 1990. At 44, she was the oldest dolphin in the colony. Born in the wild in 1972, she came to us from another aquarium that had to close.