TARAS
Taras is a male bottlenose dolphin, born on 9 August 2014 at the Oltremare Park in Riccione. His parents are Blue and Micha: his mother was born at the Rimini Dolphinarium on June 26, 1997, while his father is a native of Cuba, where he was captured in July 1988. Taras was the first dolphin to be born under the new management of the park, Costa Eduntainment: shortly thereafter, a few months later, Goccia would be born on the 1st of September at the Genoa Aquarium.
Taras lived with his mother and the other females of the group until the beginning of 2020 when, through a participation of the Oltremare Park in the European project for endangered species, known as EEP, certified and supported by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, known as EAZA, was chosen as the ideal candidate for relocation to a European facility, the ZooMarine of Algarve in Portugal. Together with him, two other males named Joan (who arrived in Oltremare from Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, in November 2015) and Tabo (born in 1993 and in Oltremare since its opening in 2004) were transferred.
How to recognize Taras
1. Taras's body is not quite as tapered as his mother's. In some places, in fact, it seems to be more robust, like that of the father.
2. The dorsal fin is sickle-shaped, with a noticeable notch almost at the apex.
3. The final part of the rostrum is a little pronounced.
Taras has been shown to have an independent character since he was about 9 months old. The attachment to the mother was not as "excessive" as it was for the elder brother, Zeus, and this allowed him to integrate easily with adult females. Taras is also a very curious and intelligent dolphin, always eager to learn new things. The integration with the new dolphins in Portugal, in fact, was a real success.
Photo ©Elisa