GOCCIA
Goccia is a female bottlenose dolphin born on 1st September 2014 at the Aquarium of Genoa. Her parents are Naù and Teide. Her birth was classified as the first to have happened successfully in the poll of the new Cetaceans Pavilion, a few months after its inauguration. Her name was chosen through a survey on the web, but it also seems to have a symbolic value. Goccia, in fact, was the name of a wild dolphin from the Sardinia region who lived in close contact with man, who died a few months after the birth of the calf.
Goccia's father, Teide, unfortunately died suddenly on May 28, 2020, on the same day as the Genoa Aquarium reopened, after the Italian government had imposed about two months of forced lockdown to counter the spread of the new Sars-Cov2 virus. . Within a few months, the mother, Naù, also left: on 11 September 2020, in fact, the adult female died as a result of kidney stones that caused her eating and behavioral disorders.
How to recognize Goccia
Goccia is aesthetically identical to the mother Naù, with the slightly crooked rostrum and the tip slightly turned upwards. The build and shape of the head, however, she inherited both from her father Teide.
She is a very intelligent dolphin and very attached to her mother; she is very eager to learn and loves interacting with trainers.
Photo Credit: © Sara Micheli