The dolphin and wildlife attraction at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has temporarily closed after three dolphins died at the enclosure this year.
The cause of death for K2, an 11-year-old bottlenose dolphin who died Saturday, was a respiratory illness, according to the casino, though an autopsy will take 30 days to complete. Maverick, a 19-year-old dolphin who died earlier this month, had been receiving medical care for a lung infection when he died, the company said. A 13-year-old dolphin named Bella died of gastroenteritis in April.
THREE RESCUE DOLPHINS RELEASED TO SEA FROM INDONESIA SANCTUARY
“K2 was very vocal, energetic, loved his toys and was a joy to be around,” Mirage’s interim president, Franz Kallao, said in a memo obtained by the Washington Post. “We are temporarily closing the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat to focus our efforts on ensuring that we have the safest possible environment and the best care possible for our dolphins and to give our team the time they need to process and grieve.”
The closure is temporary while independent investigators, such as the San Diego-based National Marine Mammal Foundation, examine the exhibit’s services. The Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat‘s veterinary care, water quality, and filtration system will be among those examined, the casino told the Washington Post.
The habitat has been criticized for its high number of dolphin deaths since it opened in 1990. Although critics have said 16 dolphins died at the casino, the company said 14 dolphins died due to a variety of causes and at a range of ages, according to the outlet.
“It’s horribly tragic,” Cameron Harsh, programs director at the U.S. office of World Animal Protection, told the outlet. “This is the third dolphin to die at this venue [this year], and they are all under the age of 20. Dolphin live 30 to 50 years in the wild. That is really indicative of the short life spans of these animals when they are in captive environments.”
Exhibits can be detrimental to the well-being of wild animals, Harsh said, especially animals that like to roam far and deep, like dolphins. The marine mammals can hunt and swim at depths of up to 180 feet.
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The resort previously closed the exhibit during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and again this past April when the attraction underwent a routine inspection by the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
No reopening date for the most recent closure has been announced.
