On Wednesday May 4th there was a celebration in Glory as a full-figured, joyous spirit – with a beauty mark on her upper lip and a love of kissing bearded men - came "motor boating" over to the other side. Our incomparable Theresa left our earthly confines, and now she truly is immortal. While we are heartbroken to no longer have Nana with us, she was ready for this journey, after living such a long, fulfilling life here with her family at Dolphin Research Center.

Theresa's Dive

It is hard to imagine that we no longer have Theresa's "larger than life" personality in our midst. She was the matriarch, the mentor, the teacher, and the Nana to not only our dolphin family, but our human one as well. The last surviving dolphin at Dolphin Research Center that pre-dated Jayne and Mandy's arrival in 1972, Theresa's passing marks the end of an era. As the Vice President of the Animal Care and Training department, I am left with a huge hole not only in my heart, but in my "staff" as well. For there is no other dolphin that can fill Theresa's huge fluke prints here in our dolphin colony: None other who has shown themselves to be such an attentive midwife; none other who has consistently stepped in to support dolphins going through tough times; none other who can train new trainers quite like our T-Bear; and certainly none other with her limitless patience with us silly humans! And who will rescue lost dolphins? Oh, were you unaware of that item on Theresa's resume of life? Well, pull up a chair; let's reminisce a bit about the one and only Theresa-Lisa!

Theresa's story as we know it begins in the 1960s when she was collected from the Florida Keys waters by our original founder, Milton Santini. One of an elite group of our "founder dolphins" including Mr. Gipper, Little Bit, Bee and Misty, Theresa was destined to have a very full, busy life living among humans. Originally collected for sale to the Navy, Theresa and some other dolphins were transported to ocean pens in Key West, Florida after their collection. Theresa apparently had another idea. Milton Santini, visiting DRC in the 1980s, talked with Mandy and me about her. "They took her to Key West, but I found her in Grassy Key waters again," Milton said. "I caught her again, easily, and brought her here. The Navy came looking for her at some point, but I told them I hadn't seen her, figured she wanted to be here." Milton affectionately called her "My Theresa". He was the first human to be charmed by this sweet lady, but far from the last!

When I began working at Flipper's Sea School in 1979, I remember Mandy taking me out to introduce me to the first dolphin I would be allowed to work with and feed: Theresa. She took the offered fish, but would not allow me to rub her. It wasn't until our third session together that she finally slipped under my hand and let me feel her silky skin for the first time. I was overwhelmed and thrilled, and then she turned back to me, her trademark wide open mouth aimed my way, saying, "Hey where's my fish, rookie?" Mandy would watch our sessions and gently coach me. Theresa's coaching reflected her sense of humor and fun. Famous for her high-flying aerials, one of the most challenging behaviors for me to master with her was her hoop jump. I would station her, dip the hoop in the water and hold it out as high as I could over the water. Theresa would race away, a twinkle in her eye. She'd take a look, porpoising above the water a pool length away, and then dive down deep, only to come up jumping outside of the hoop! It wasn't like she tried to go through and missed. She came up exactly parallel to the hoop, perfect height, just to the side of it! If Mandy took the hoop and asked, she'd go perfectly through the center every time. This was just a game she played with the new kid, me.

Theresa Goofing Around

Another lesson she took great pains to teach me was to respect her preferences. We once received a shipment of Boston mackerel, and all of the dolphins were enjoying the new variety in their diets, except for Theresa. I handed her a perfect mackerel. She took it into her mouth, ducked under water mouthing it as if she was tasting it, and then came back up with the fish positioned lengthwise, hanging out of either side. It was obvious she was returning it to me. I took it, and gave it to her again. She repeated handing it to me. I gave it to her again, and she returned it a third time. Hardheaded human, I handed the fish to Theresa a fourth time. This time she took it and swam away. Feeling victorious, I thought my persistence had paid off, until I saw her come up along the perimeter fence line, toss her head and chuck the offensive mackerel right over the fence! She had finally given up on the dumb human and taken matters into her own flippers. In the process, she taught this girl another lesson!

Theresa Splashing Guests

As the years have gone on, we've continued the tradition of having newer trainers learn from Theresa. The nice thing about T was, while she wasn't going to "give it to you", she made working for it fun! Many times new trainers would come in after a Theresa session, saying she hadn't done any of the behaviors they'd asked for. "But how was the session overall?" I'd ask. "Oh, it was hysterical, we had a great time," was invariably the response.

Theresa, Pax and Tursi - 1997

This carried over in Theresa's Dolphin Encounter swim sessions. Many of you, our members and readers, were fortunate enough to participate in a swim with Theresa over the years. So you know what I'm talking about. Theresa basically did what Theresa wanted! She loved the swims, I think because she loved the reactions she got from the guests. She always left them laughing until their sides hurt. Imitates were usually the most unpredictable. If the guest did the twist, Theresa often spun in circles. If they spit water, she'd splash. She loved to mix it up. Most of the time the guests changed and imitated the behavior that Theresa was doing, which I'm sure was her idea all along. After all, she was the trainer here!

Many don't remember it anymore, but Dolphin Research Center was the first facility in the world to offer structured swim-with-the-dolphins programs. They began in 1982, and Theresa was one of the original dolphins to participate. From the beginning her favorite thing was the kisses. Her nickname at the time was "Hot Lips", after the character on the famous television show M*A*S*H. She would disappear for a moment, then reappear and sneak up on some guest's cheek, especially men with beards or mustaches. She gave the gentlest kisses of any dolphin I've ever met, just barely touching your cheek.

Flipper's Key West - 1983

I mentioned Theresa's importance as a midwife to our pregnant dolphins. She was extremely efficient at this as her experience grew. For the last few births she attended, we actually started using Theresa as our best cue as to when the mothers were on the final push, as it were. This is because Theresa showed little interest during most of the labor. While we humans jumped up and down when we saw the little fluke come out, Theresa knew there was still a long wait. When Theresa finally swam to the mother's side and stayed with her, the birth happened within minutes.

One memorable birth was on Easter Sunday in 1997. Soon after Tursi delivered baby Pax, we saw her pass the baby over to Theresa. This was highly unusual, especially for Tursi who had already had a successful calf in Talon. Theresa diligently guided the newborn around the large front lagoon with Tursi swimming on her own. We tried to encourage both females to the dock to get a better look, but neither would come close. After about an hour and a half, we noticed that Tursi was delivering the placenta. When this was complete, she immediately went to Theresa and collected baby Pax. Theresa raced to the dock and her trainers, mouth open and screaming as if to say, "I thought she'd never come and get him. Feed me, that was hard work!"

Buck at the Boat

In case you hadn't heard, Theresa's interest in pregnancies transferred to humans as well. In 1983 when Theresa was doing shows at our Key West facility, I slipped into the lagoon to do some water work for our guests to watch. Instead of coming over and stationing as usual, Theresa sank down under the water and began to scan my abdomen with her echolocation. It was a cool sensation that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I splashed to get her attention, but she wouldn't surface until she was ready. She then came up, kissed me on the cheek, and we got to work. A week later at my appointment with my gynecologist, I discovered I was pregnant! The elderly Key West doctor didn't believe me when I told him Theresa had already noticed! As a side note, my baby, Jennifer, must have been affected by Theresa's "comments": She grew up at DRC and today is one of our trainers!

Buck and Theresa

Food was always a constant in Theresa's life, and the flying mackerel aside, she loved her meals! Rarely did she miss one, and was famous for her "full figured" look her entire life. I remember the narrators in the 1970s called her our "Jane Russell" – an actress from that era. In more recent years she was compared more to Bette Midler, another multi-talented woman with a great sense of humor and personality. Theresa always managed to make double, or even triple, chins look good!

Theresa's most important contributions to the DRC family happened right here in our lagoons with her family. There were a couple of times when her family called on her to travel. In the 80s Theresa lived in Key West for a time, performing in our Flipper's Key West dolphin show. We soon learned that people generally don't go to Key West to see dolphin shows, and Theresa and our other dolphins returned to Grassy Key. There was a brief period where Theresa rubbed flippers with the "jet set". She lived at the Ocean Reef Club, a private resort, in Key Largo. This was an attempt to get more donations for our struggling facility, as well as to help the trainers and other dolphins at Ocean Reef. Actually Theresa returned home after only a few months, but years later she was joined at DRC by one of the Ocean Reef trainers, Cheryl Baker, and one of their dolphins, Molly! Once you meet Theresa, you just don't want to live without her, I guess!

Misty and Natua

Which brings me to the story of Theresa rescuing another dolphin. In May of 1996, dolphin extremist Ric O'Barry illegally released two former U.S. Navy dolphins, Buck and Luther, into the waters off of Key West, Florida. It was a busy Memorial Day weekend, and Luther was soon spotted begging for fish from the many boaters. With the help of DRC, the U.S. Navy and government agencies, eight days after his release Luther was rescued.

That same day we had our first sighting of Buck, the second dolphin. He was in Islamorada, over 80 miles from where he had been pushed from O'Barry's boat. It wasn't until the 13th day from his release that we were able to get our eyes on Buck. He was spotted at Vaca Cut Bridge in Marathon! Mandy and I raced over in a boat, put a pinger recall device in the water and he immediately came to the familiar call. He was very thin, with a deep gash on his back, but he ate the fish I offered and began to follow the boat back to DRC. Once Buck was outside our fences, we opened a perimeter gate to an empty lagoon. Our hope was that we could lure in this tired, thin dolphin.

Buck was too nervous to swim through the gate, even with our pingers, fish, and his familiar Navy trainers on the inside. Finally Jayne Shannon Rodriguez called the team leaders together. "He needs another dolphin. Let's ask Theresa to go into the lagoon. She'll get him to come in," Jayne said. We asked, and Theresa complied. She not only swam into the empty lagoon, but, obviously having sized up the situation, continued right out the perimeter gate into the open Gulf of Mexico! She immediately began swimming with the tired sailor in slow gentle patterns. After a few minutes, she returned to our lagoon. Buck did not follow. Theresa, using all that "Hot Lips" charm we loved so much, didn't give up. She circled and strutted in front of the open gate, as if to say, "Come on in, handsome!" Finally, Buck moved slowly forward until he entered safely through the gate, which we then closed behind him. His next move? Dinner with his lovely rescuer, of course!

The last story of Theresa's travels is international and the most dramatic. In 1989, she and her son, Natua, were transported to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a film shoot. These were the days that we couldn't pay our fish bills, and doing occasional commercials and movies paid for a lot of fish! On March 3rd, Mandy and trainer Della Schuler were working with Natua outside the enclosure in Round Bay when Theresa, for reasons only she knew, jumped the fence and headed out to sea. As she raced past Mandy and Della's boat, Nat hesitated. As Mandy tells it, "He looked up at me, turned and looked after his mother, took one more look at me – and raced after Theresa."

Though the team searched daily, using pingers and even recorded whistles of Theresa and Nat's family here in the Keys, there was no sight of the dolphins through March 18th, when Mandy and Della made a sad, lonely return to the Keys. On the morning of March 19th, barely 12 hours after they arrived home, Mandy and Jayne received a phone call from St. Martin (an island approximately 120 miles from USVI). A friendly dolphin was hanging around one of the resorts, swimming with the guests and accepting gifts of filleted fish. Identified by the missing right corner of his tail, it was Natua. We dispatched a Lear jet, and a team including Mandy and myself. When we arrived at the beach and went into the water, Natua swam right up to Mandy, then let him place him in a stretcher. He was ready to go home!

Theresa - Even with a Tummy was Very Athletic

Where was Theresa? A week later a call came from a Fisheries biologist on St. John. He had a report from a dive shop in Tortola, (the British Virgin Islands, only 15 miles from St. John) that a dolphin was coming up to dive boats, accepting handouts and spitting at people in the water! She was identified not only by the behavior, but her beauty mark on her upper jaw. Mandy and Della flew to Tortola, and while walking a beach there heard a dolphin exhale. They blew a blast on a whistle and Theresa stuck her head out of the water looking for them! Mandy swam out to her and she accepted touches and fish, but was scared away when someone, who was trying to help, grabbed her fluke.

The next day the search was on and they found Theresa in a small bay. With the help of normally uncooperative local fishermen, they were able to use a net to get her safely into a stretcher. She had lost so much weight that Mandy decided she needed to rehabilitate on the island before it would be safe to fly home. They set up a temporary pool in a canal on the island. Our medical director at the time, Lynne Calero, flew over and Theresa's critical care M*A*S*H unit was set up. On April 4th, after re-hydration and several days of good meals, Theresa flew home in her own Lear jet to rejoin her family. She had lost over 125 pounds during her walk on the wild side. Nat had lost around 75 pounds but had suffered serious damage to his liver, which we believe led to his shorter lifespan.

Fortunately for Theresa, weight loss seemed to be the only catastrophe she suffered, and she got started right away on remedying that problem! Maybe that experience is why Theresa tended towards the chubby side for the rest of her life. The more serious lesson from this story, as well as Buck and Luther's is this: Dolphins who have lived in human care for years are not simply able to be "free" again. The rose colored glasses that paint them swimming happily into the sunset were crushed by the truth of what happened to Theresa and her son Nat. Let's remember that lesson from our Theresa. Do not try to "Free Willy" or any other marine mammals who have acclimated to living with humans. It doesn't work – period.

As you can see, to tell all of Theresa's stories would take more room than we have in this newsletter. Theresa was no ordinary dolphin. She has carved herself a place in dolphin history, not only by living longer than practically any other dolphin we know of, but also by how she lived that life. Tom Brokow wrote a book titled The Greatest Generation. In it he tells the stories of a generation, America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. I see Theresa as similar to these Americans. She lived during a time where we were just learning how to take care of dolphins – and she was tough enough to survive! She lived through DRC's lean years, a working girl who did whatever was needed with a smile on her face, setting an example for dolphins and people alike. She rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, but the ones that were the most precious and memorable were children with special needs, or warriors with broken bodies. How blessed we all were to have had this amazing woman in our lives for so long! For Theresa's sake, dry your tears, smile, tease somebody, put in a full day's work and love doing it, gently kiss everyone but especially men with facial hair – and ENJOY LIFE like she did! We love you forever T-Bear!

-Linda Erb

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together
Keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever
Winnie The Pooh