“Donley” Dolphin Finds a New Home
“Donley”, the young dolphin rescued by the  Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TMMSN) from the beach in November 2008 has found a permanent home. The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided that Sea World of Texas in San Antonio will be able to provide for the medical and social needs of Donley and are best suited as his permanent home.
Donley has been in rehabilitation with TMMSN in Galveston over the last three months and is ready to move on to join other dolphins. Donley will not be returned to the wild because of his young age and behavioral history. He is still considered a dependant calf and would likely not be able to survive in the
wild without the skills these animals learn from their mothers for the first several years of their life.
Transport arrangements are still in progress but Donley is expected to be transported to Sea World of Texas in early February.
It will be a bittersweet goodbye for the many volunteers that have worked with Donley in rehabilitation over the last several months but we are all looking forward to his interactions with other dolphins.
TMMSN would like to thank the public for their support of Donley’s rehabilitation as well as the dozens of volunteers that have watched over Donley 24hrs a day for the last three months. We would also like to thank Moody Gardens for their assistance in providing fish for Donley.
TMMSN is a non‐profit organization that rehabilitates dolphins like Donley with charitable contributions
from the public. If anyone is interested in helping dolphins like Donley to have a second chance at life,
please visit our website at www.TMMSN.org January through March is considered the dolphin “stranding season” in Texas and the TMMSN would like to
remind the public that if you find a live stranded dolphin or whale, please do not push them back in the water. Instead, call the TMMSN hotline at (800‐9MAMMAL) for all marine mammals on the beach. |
