Nobody was surprised that Cocoa was a female when she was born in 2007 at SeaWorld
Park officials said the young Atlantic bottlenose dolphin's gender was determined through the use of advanced artificial insemination technologies. According to a SeaWorld news release, the accomplishment is a scientific milestone.
So far SeaWorld's success rate with the technique has been 100 percent with pre-determining the gender of the offspring.
"Sexing of sperm from dolphins and other zoological species -- including elephants, rhinos and gorillas -- will continue at the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Reproductive Research Center at SeaWorld San Diego," park officials said.
Cocoa was born Nov. 28, 2007, at SeaWorld San Diego. She is the park's fourth dolphin calf conceived through artificial insemination to preferentially produce a female offspring, according to park officials.
Read "SeaWorld to Showcase Sex-Selected Bottlenose Dolphin" on the Union-Tribune's Web site for more details.
