Travel Story from Polly:
Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas
Just off the neon
boulevard of Nevada’s Las Vegas “strip,”
amongst the cacophony of casinos, is a unique animal habitat that houses
Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.
Sgt. Pepper,
Lightning, Duchess, Maverick, Huff N Puff, and Sage sound like characters from
Beatles songs.
In fact, they are a
family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins enjoying the four connected pools, an
artificial coral reef system and sandy bottom that replicates the dolphins natural
environment.
Some years ago,
Steven Wynn, the owner of the hotel, wanted to bring these intelligent marine
mammals to a research site that would benefit the community and educate
children in Clark County, Nevada.
Thusly, in 1989, a
facility, the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, was built,
and staffed with dolphin care specialists. From above and below vast pools, the world is
invited to come learn and observe the lifestyle and often, sense of humor,
exhibited in this group of hairless, finned cetaceans.
Referring to
their enriched lives and how endeared the dolphins are, Mimi Tilton, Public
Relations Manager MGM/Mirage, added that “we love them as they love us.”
“We are very involved in their health
here, and in the research process of the species, especially relating to their
reproductive system, hearing, and aging,” said Jim Hudson, curator of animal
care.
Hudson has a longtime interest in
animals. Beginning with elephants and
camels, he has been involved in animal training around the world since 1979. Here in Las Vegas, he has been at the habitat for
eight years overseeing the dolphins specialized care.
The Las Vegas facility, a member of the
Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, piggy- backs their research with
Texas A&M, Ohio State University, and Oklahoma State University.
Dolphins are
social animals. They enjoy communicating
and interacting with one another. They have
a special system of seeing and hearing called “echolocation,” the ability to
locate objects by emitted sound waves and interpret the resulting echo. This system of sonar allows a dolphin to
“see” without using its eyes. They use
echolocation to navigate and to find food.
Dolphins also
have a highly developed sense of touch.
They can hold their breath up to seven minutes, but will typically
breathe two to three times per minute.
Researchers have found that they learn sign
language quickly and easily.
In the United
States, Atlantic bottle nose dolphins can be found along the East Coast from
Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico. Adult
bottlenose dolphins weigh up to 650 pounds and their actual size varies from 6
– 12 feet. Males are slightly larger
than females. Living in a protected
facility, these mammals will live longer than their counterparts in the wild. Within
the Habitat, on average, a one-year-old bottlenose dolphin is expected to live
for more than 25 years.
With ten trainers
and one intern from UNLV, it’s clear that they are devoted to their animals.
They may have favorites, “but they are not pets,” emphasized Hudson, adding the
fact that dolphins don’t do tricks.
Their jumps, spins, flips and tail walks are part of their natural
behaviors. It is how they play,
exercise, and communicate.
The dolphin pod
living at the habitat include: Duchess, a 30 year-old female, the mother of, Huff N Puff, a 7 year old female; Maverick, a
5 year old male, and Sgt. Pepper, a male, born 10 months ago. The other dolphins are: Lightning, a 25 year
old male, and Sage, a 10 year-old female.
In addition to
the daily dolphin viewing, and educational programs for students from
kindergarten to university age, the habitat offers a Trainer for a Day program
whereby four participants stand side by side with the trainers and feed, train,
and signal behaviors with the dolphins.
The various people the dolphins are exposed to through this program
stimulates their brains and gives them variation in their environment.
I was fortunate to shadow Hudson, poolside, and
interact with Duchess, accompanied by her baby, Sgt. Pepper, who tried to get
into the act.
Swimming up to me, with a seemingly ever-
present smile, Duchess was eager to respond to hand movements. With a signal, she opened her mouth and
talked, revealing over 100 identical cone-shaped teeth in her cavernous
mouth. She swam away and flipped
vertically into the air when I gave her the “candle” sign. With a flick of the
hand, she would pose poolside raising her “fluke” (tail) high into the
air. Time after time, she returned
wanting to play and interact with me. After each maneuver, she skidded up pausing to
be stroked on the top of her head; even asking for a “kiss.” She felt like a wet hot dog or rubber.
But, even at
that, after all that fun, that didn’t stop me from giving her one big smooch
right on her bottlenose snout!
If you go:
Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat
Open Daily
11:00 am – 5:30
pm weekdays
10:00 am - 5:30
pm weekends
Admission
Adults - $15.00
Children 4-12 -
$10.00
Children 3 and under, free with adult
The Mirage Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
More information, call: 702-791-7188.
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