Dolphin at National Aquarium gives birth to stillborn calf

One of the two pregnant dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore gave birth to a stillborn calf early last week, aquarium officials reported Tuesday. Shiloh, a 29-year-old Atlantic bottlenose, was in labor for 40 minutes in the early-morning hours of July 14. About 3 a.m., she gave birth to a stillborn calf weighing almost 32 pounds. "It's always very hard to report things like this. When it's a baby, it breaks our heart," said Sue Hunter, director of marine mammal training. "Nobody wants to see it end this way." Results of a necropsy -- an animal autopsy -- won't be available for at least a month, aquarium officials said. Johns Hopkins University's comparative pathology lab conducted tests on the calf and Shiloh's placenta, but officials said the preliminary exam could not determine an obvious cause of death. "There... [read full story]