Moment a dolphin gave birth caught on film

By Paul Eccleston

This is the moment of birth of a baby dolphin.

The unique moment was captured by a photographer at the Oltremare Aquarium at Riccione in Italy.

Normally after a year-long pregnancy, captive dolphins give birth at night and away from the public gaze.

But this Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) unusually gave birth in broad daylight and close to a viewing window so that photographer Leandro Stanzani had a grandstand view.

The calf emerged tail first - so it does not breathe in water - and was able to see and swim immediately.

The calf began feeding very quickly taking in the vital colostrum which allows it to build up its immune system.

Stanzani said he had witnessed 11 dolphin births since 1993 but these were the best images he had ever obtained.

"Taking good pictures is not easy because births often happen at night and away from the windows or sometimes the water quality is poor.

"This time I was very lucky: it happened during daylight and although there were photographers positioned at each of the three underwater windows, I was the only one to see it," he said.

A new-born calf can be more than four-feet long and weigh more than three stones.

It will be nursed for about 18 months and will begin eating fish at about four months.

The bottlenose is probably the most common of the 45 different types of dolphins and in the wild will live for an average 20 years though they have been known to live as long as 48 years.

Because the baby was born in captivity it is unlikely ever to be released into the wild and will become part of a captive breeding programme run by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.