Dudley the Baby Dolphin

Overview

In January 1991, Sea World was called to help a lone, stranded baby Indo Pacific Humpback dolphin, named Dudley, at Alva Beach near Townsville.

Following an overnight vigil a seat was allocated aboard a Qantas domestic flight to take the young dolphin to Brisbane airport where a Sea World helicopter was waiting to take the dolphin to Sea World.

Despite being fostered by a female bottlenose dolphin, Ava, and making remarkable progress, Dudley finally succumbed to a massive bacterial infection two weeks after becoming stranded.

However, the knowledge gained from Sea World's experience with Dudley has received international attention in providing valuable information on a rarely-studied species.