R.I.P. Harley

On Saturday, January 21st, 2005, Minnesota Zoo dolphin Harley died. He had just been born the previous summer, and was reportedly doing very well in regards to training and behavior. The calf leapt from the water for unknown reasons and hit his head on the dock outside of his tank. Although he was returned to the water with his mother Rio, the young dolphin passed away.
An x-ray showed that Harley had fractured his skull, and the trauma of that incident had been the cause of death. He died on the 7-month anniversary of his birth.

Jen and I were very sad to hear of this news. Although Harley was too young to perform in shows, we had seen him leaping playfully from the water in his tank during a dolphin show the Sunday prior to the incident. He was so small and cute; we wish we could have seen him do shows like the others. You live on in our memories Harley.

—Dan