Dolphin’s death concludes Mote’s 38-year study of its life
A female wild dolphin monitored for 38 years by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program based at Mote Marine Laboratory died May 22, leaving behind two documented generations of offspring to continue her legacy. Waterfront residents found the 46-year-old dolphin — known as “FB5″ by Program scientists — on a sandbar near Longboat Key. Mote staff recovered the dolphin, which had succumbed to illnesses and injuries that plagued her for months. A necropsy, or animal autopsy, showed that FB5 had lost more than 100 pounds since her health was last assessed in 2001. She had developed non-healing skin lesions and suffered from organ failure, shark bites and a stingray barb in her lung. Examining her made for a bittersweet evening.