WE’RE EXPECTING!

Baltimore, February 22, 2010 – The National Aquarium, Baltimore is pleased to announce the pregnancy of an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, Jade. After months of regular check-ups, ultrasounds and other health assessments, Aquarium experts estimate that Jade will give birth between mid-February and mid-March. The Aquarium’s marine mammal staff and a group of 50 trained volunteers have begun 24-hour observations to monitor the expectant mother for signs of labor as she enters into this final stage of pregnancy.

The public is invited to share in the celebration of Bayley’s first birthday during the Aquarium’s first ever public enrichment building day on August 8th, which happens to also be the Aquarium’s 28th birthday.

The National Aquarium is celebrating a dolphin birthday! Bayley, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin born at the Aquarium on July 27, 2008, is one year old today. The public is invited to share in her birthday celebration during the Aquarium’s first ever public enrichment building day on Saturday, August 8.

The National Aquarium will lead Maryland’s annual dolphin count on Friday, July 17th in an effort to determine the state’s dolphin population. Volunteers are welcome to participate from 9:00 a.m. until noon.

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is connected, without anything separating it, to ALL of the oceans on earth. Our Ocean Planet: the New Dolphin Show at the National Aquarium uses the dolphin’s world to teach visitors the important connection between human life and life in the oceans. Beginning April 4th, visitors to this interactive show will engage in the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins’ watery world that is vastly different from ours, yet connected and dependent on us to keep it healthy, making it truly, Our Ocean Planet.