Have you ever gone snorkeling or deep sea diving? The fun part of these activities is pretty obvious. By being able to breathe underwater longer than we normally would, we get the opportunity to interact with many different kinds of life that we wouldn’t otherwise see. We could skim over the surface and see tiny fish scuttling above coral reefs or go even deeper to see larger animals. Every once in a while, we have truly rare experiences with nature that stay with us for a lifetime.
One of these incredible experiences happened to dive crew members at Dolphin Quest off the coast of Hawaii’s big island.
Dolphin Quest is a tourist attraction in Hawaii which offers its clients the ability to swim with dolphins.
Though there hadn’t been a new birth at the resort since 1988, the newest dolphin calf birth was fortunately caught on tape! The mother in the video is named Keo, and as the clip begins she is swimming slowly and peacefully between the divers. Still, it becomes clear after a moment that something unusual is happening—the dolphin seems to have two tails! A moment later, Keo swims to a stop by one of the trainers for a little assistance.
It soon becomes clear that Keo is giving birth.
After a few moments of straining, Keo pushes enough to give birth to a tiny baby dolphin.
As soon as the calf as born, it shoots off in spirals, swimming around and testing its new environment. Hardly missing a beat, the little calf paddles up and breaks the surface of the water, doing incredible spins around its mother. In what seems like a celebration, the mother and her calf do a first “lap” together, swimming around, spiraling and gently wrestling with one another.
Fortunately for everyone who was there that day, the birth was a success!
In addition to being an incredible event to witness, the video is also educational for those who are unfamiliar with dolphin biology.
Just like human beings, dolphins give birth to live young—though unlike humans, they seem to be ready to swim away immediately! Dolphins have long been revered by human beings as an intelligent, sensitive animal species close to our own hearts. This experience will surely stay with everyone who witnessed it that day, while the rest of us can enjoy this miracle from the safety of our homes.
Welcome to the world, little guy!
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