
DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250098

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Correspondent Jane Harper researched and wrote this report. 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO. . . RASCAL THE DOLPHIN?

Rascal the bottlenose dolphin captured the attention of residents living along Virginia Beach's Broad Bay - as well as much of the region - in late 1988 when he failed to migrate south and instead spent the winter in the bay's icy waters. The dolphin eventually was pulled from the bay in February 1989 and sent to Sea World in Orlando, Fla., to get fattened up before being released offshore.

It's been more than eight years since Rascal was released into the Indian River Lagoon, 20 to 30 miles from the shore of Port Canaveral, Fla., and there hasn't been a single reported sighting of him since.

But officials with Sea World and the Virginia Marine Science Museum believe there is a good chance that Rascal is alive and well and playing happily with other dolphins.

Rascal was very healthy and only a few years old when he was set free, they pointed out. And dolphins living in their natural habitat - whether offshore or close to the coast - tend to live an average of 20 to 30 years.

The fact that there have been no reported sightings of Rascal, who has the number 11 freeze-branded on his dorsal fin, is no reason for concern, they said.

``The offshore dolphins aren't seen much,'' said Dan Odell, a research biologist with Sea World. ``Rascal was released offshore because he was believed to be part of an offshore migrating group.''

There has been one case of an offshore dolphin being sighted several times since its release by Sea World in 1979, Odell said. Coincidentally, its most recent sighting was in Virginia Beach about a month ago.

Known as ``Dolphin No. 56'' because of the brand on its fin, it previously had been spotted near Jacksonville, Fla., and along the shores of the Carolinas and Georgia, Odell said. But that's unusual for an offshore dolphin, he said.

Rascal became a celebrity in Hampton Roads when residents living along Broad Bay reported that he was swimming in the bay's frigid waters. Marine scientists became concerned about Rascal's welfare.

After monitoring him for months and twice failing to catch him, they netted him in February 1989 and sent him on a private jet to Sea World. He spent about six weeks there learning how to live in the wild again and getting fattened up before he was set free.

A campaign to raise money for Rascal's care while he was in captivity included the sale of Rascal T-shirts, tote bags and aprons. A local dive shop charged Rascal fans $15 each to take a boat trip to see Rascal playing and getting fed. One business even offered ``Rascal-grams,'' in which customers could hire a person dressed in a dolphin costume to deliver bouquets of helium balloons.

Since Rascal's extended stay in Broad Bay, only one other dolphin has chosen to spend the winter there. This past winter, a female dolphin failed to migrate south and continues to live there today.

Virginia Marine Science Museum officials monitoring the dolphin's condition did not discover it was a female until it gave birth, said spokeswoman Alice Scanlan. That may explain why the dolphin stayed behind.

In that case, researchers decided not to net the dolphin and move it south. Instead, they chose to visit every two weeks to make sure that it and its calf remained healthy. And they have, Scanlan said.

``If Rascal had been here now instead of back in 1989, he probably would not have been moved either, as long as he stayed healthy,'' she said.

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Rascal, the dolphin that forgot to swim south for the winter, teases

divers in Broad Bay. He hasn't been sighted in more than eight

years, but marine experts say his chances for survival are

excellent.