MARY G.
Mary G. was a female risso's dolphin (scientific name Grampus Griseus ) rescued at the age of just one year old, near the waters of Ancona's harbour, on June 18, 2005. The harbor master, at the sight of the young dolphin in the company of the mother, has called the Cetacea Foundation of Riccione, which came immediately on the spot to rescue the two cetaceans. Transported by the help of special stretchers and loaded into vehicles, mother and daughter were transferred to the rehabilitation tank at the Foundation's headquarters, which once was nothing more than the old Dolphinarium, closed in 2003. The examinations showed that the adult female was seriously ill, for which she lost her bearings, probably moving away from the rest of the group: three days later, in fact, she died due to cardiac arrest. The calf, later called Mary G. (G for grampus) continued to fight, but there was an urgent need to move her to a place more suitable for rehabilitation. The closest structure was the new Oltremare park in Riccione, inaugurated in 2004 and hosting all the dolphins of the old dolphinarium.
A photograph of Mary G. and her mother the day they were spotted in the Ancona's harbour.
(© Cetacea Foundation)
Mary G.'s rehabilitation continued in the curatorial pools of the park, hidden from the public's view, in the company of the volunteers and veterinarians of the Foundation and the entire staff of the park, who came from the dolphinaria of Riccione and Cattolica. Not being fully weaned yet, a nutritious preparation consisting of milk and fish fragments, selected and prescribed according to the careful analysis of the veterinarians and the opinion of experts, was given to the young female. Mary G. also learned to swim, play and interact thanks to a careful work of attention and parental care by the trainers, who tried in every way to replicate what Mary's mother would have taught her. When Mary's rehabilitation turned out to be largely complete thanks to the excellent results found in her health, the dolphin was nevertheless declared unsuitable for a return to the sea: the main causes are the premature loss of the mother and her total affection for the man, which would not allow her to survive in the sea for a long period of time.
In the first photo: Mary G. together with Achille in 2010.
In the second photo: Mary G. and Pelè in 2009.
(© Leandro Stanzani)
The young dolphin female, therefore, would have continued to live in contact with the man. The Oltremare park turned out to be the most suitable place for her growth, however the next most important step was the integration with the large group of bottlenose dolphins. Mary's first phase of integration involved the presence of Pelè, the oldest female of the group as well as matriarch and an important point of reference for both trainers and other dolphins. Although Mary came from a different reality and spoke a different language, Pelè seemed to welcome her under her wing and this was a very important step in being able to proceed to the next steps.
Mary G. was a young dolphin and this was also noticeable in her social relationships: in addition to the time spent mainly with Pelè, Mary G. got in touch very quickly with the younger members of the group. Her favorite playmates were Ulisse, Achille and, a few years later, little Zeus.
As for all the other dolphins, Mary also followed a process of training and interaction with the trainers: some jumps that the bottlenose dolphins performed daily during the shows or training sessions, were also recorded in Mary G. These were natural behaviors that the dolphins also do in the wild to communicate with each other.
Mary's health, however, was constantly kept under control, as there had been a few episodes of relapse of her own state of health.
Around the end of April 2012, the Cetacea Foundation made an inspection in Oltremare to see Mary G.: according to Sauro Pari, president of the Foundation, he and his team had been removed from the park after having made the Ministry of the Environment participate on the integration path of the cetacean. All that was noticed, however, of Mary G. at that time was a photograph of the young female in a state of worrying weight loss, which resulted in an explosion of accusations against the structure by the animal welfare associations. In order to favor what were the incessant care and examinations to which Mary was subjected in the last period, a press silence was preferable for the park, publishing thanks to all those who were really caring about Mary G .
On May 31, 2012, exactly one month after the visit of the Cetacea Foundation, the death of Mary G was announced. The autopsy performed on the body of the young cetacean later highlighted the presence of a squid's beak in her lungs, which led to death from septicemia.
Mary G. had an extraordinary character and appearance: like any young animal, she was curious and lively, funny and clumsy, capable of giving people a smile. Those who have had the extraordinary fortune of meeting her, both inside and outside the park, confirm how impossible it is not to smile at the extraordinary memories she gave us.