Park Tenerife

Aqualand is a water park and aquarium located in Costa Adeje, Tenerife that is celebrating these days the birth of another dolphin in their facilities. The newborn dolphin is a male whose mother was also born in this aquarium some years ago. The baby dolphin is in good health conditions and it will participate in the park’s exhibitions in three or four years. The specimen, that was born the 12th of August after a 52 weeks gestation period and three hours labour, weighted 15 kilograms and measured 150 centimetres long.

This new dolphin born in the Aqualand Costa Adeje Park is a very lively one and he started emitting sounds only three hours after his birth. Shortly, he was suckling regularly and swimming next to his mother, Yemaya. This is the second offspring of Yemaya that had her first baby when she was only seven years old, becoming one of the most premature dolphin mothers in Europe. “Yemaya is a fabulous mother that will look after her baby zealously. She demonstrated her motherly devotion with her fist baby breastfeeding it for three years”, said José Luis Barbero, technical director of the dolphins complex in Aqualand.

“Yemaya is a very sensitive animal that requires a special attention from her trainers and keepers. In return for all the attention, she gives us continuous demonstrations of trust and love”, added Barbero. This is the reason why Aqualand has included her in the dolphins’ breeding program. Aqualand Costa Adeje is the first dolphins’ breeding complex established in Europe and it has been recognized by the European Association for Aquatic Mammals as one of the leading centres in terms of number of births.
One of the reasons for Aqualand to be leading the dolphins’ breeding centres in Europe is their percentage of successful births that reaches 100%, but also the number of births the centre has, which including this new dolphin reaches 15 specimens, taking into account that the reproductive cycle of this species last between three and five years. Counting with eleven births in thirteen years, Aqualand Costa Adeje is part of the elite of the European dolphins’ aquariums.

The park counts with one of the best facilities in the entire Europe for the breeding of these aquatic animals, and it also counts with a team of veterinaries and keepers specialized in these cetaceans that look after them 24 hors a day. The state-of-the-art technology the centre uses, allows them to imitate marine habitats ensuring the comfort of the dolphins.
Regular controls are carried out to check dolphins’ health conditions during the gestation and weaning period that can last 24 months depending on the characteristics of each new specimen.

For the moment, the newborn baby is kept isolated with his mother that looks after him and breastfeed him. This dolphin doesn’t have a name yet. Among the most voted names is “Waca”.