It's A Boy! Dolphin Born At The Shedd
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Up to eight people at one time are monitoring mom Piquet and her newest baby boy.
"The way to tell the gender in these animals is the males have two genital slits and the females have one. Because the calves swim so fast and so close to mom, it's difficult to get a good confirmation but we have confirmed and it is a male so we have a swimming baby boy here," said Tim Binder, Executive Vice President, Animal Care, Shedd Aquarium.
The Pacific white-sided dolphin was born on Monday. In just the last day, the new baby has made great progress.
"We're looking for respiration, how often the calf spends with mom, how he's nursing, passing fecal which is huge, something called slipstreaming, that's when the calf next to the mother, and her wake takes the calf along," Binder said. "We've seen all those milestones within the last 24 hours. His progress so far has been beautiful."
Even the nearby Beluga whales, who live in the next habitat, can't help but gawk at the newborn.
"It's like watching a tennis match. They get up to the window, they are staring, their heads are going back and forth as the calf swims. It's really entertaining for them and for us to watch them," Binder laughed.
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With fewer than 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins in North American zoos, his birth is significant for the population and study of the species.
Piquet, who is 27, gave birth to another male, Sagu three years ago.
The new dolphin is about 3 feet, 30 pounds but can grow up to 7 feet and 300 pounds. Binder says they will be watching the pair for the next month or so before they will make their public debut.
