Hana, one of two Pacific white-sided dolphins kept at the Vancouver Aquarium, has died after undergoing emergency surgery for a gastrointestinal problem.
The aquarium says Hana died on Sunday (May 24) evening after undergoing experimental surgery performed by a team of veterinarians flown in from across North America.
“I can tell you that we did absolutely everything we could to save her, including bringing in the best radiologist, anesthetist and surgeon in the field to provide treatment, and we had an incredible team of animal husbandry staff with her in waist-deep water around-the-clock,” said Dr. Martin Haulena, the head veterinarian at the aquarium’s Marine Science Centre, in a prepared statement.
Staff who worked with Hana first noticed a problem May 18. Haulena soon confirmed she was suffering from life-threatening gastrointestinal distension and inflammation, and assembled a team that performed the first-ever enterotomy (bowel surgery) on a Pacific white-sided dolphin under general anesthesia May 21. Because cetaceans live in water and are conscious breathers, surgical procedures are high-risk and extremely rare.
“Although we knew it was a miracle that she made it through the surgery and that her recovery was a long shot, her loss still comes as a devastating blow,” added general manager Clint Wright.
According to the aquarium, Hana was rescued from entanglement in a fishing net off the coast of Japan in 2003 and was moved to Enoshima Aquarium. She was transferred to Vancouver Aquarium two years later along with another dolphin named Helen. The two were part of a pilot project to understand whale echolocation abilities to prevent whales in the future from becoming entangled in fishing nets.
Hana is the second dolphin to die at the Stanely Park facility. Spinnaker, a 25-year-old male, died in 2012 following a prolonged illness.
