Visitors say goodbye to zoo's dolphins

by Rupa Shenoy, Minnesota Public Radio

Families are crowding the dolphin exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo this weekend as a week of planned "goodbye visits" begin.

The zoo said it would be sending its remaining dolphins away after one died this spring. The two remaining -- Semo and Allie -- are being relocated so the zoo can renovate its exhibit.

Kate Zumberg, a visitor to the zoo, sat on the steps by the dolphin tank and watched the pair toss a ball.

"I don't come that often, probably once a year," she said. "Make a trip with my kids, come back. But they're always here. And this is going to be it ... We don't live by a coast. We don't get to go out in the boats and see this, so it's special."

Another visitor, Aaron Marshall, 18, first met the dolphins six years ago when he was in a youth training program at the zoo and got the chance to go backstage.

"As a kid I was always interested in dolphins always loved them," Marshall said, "and I wanted to grow up and work with them. And we'd come all the time. I'd always beg to see the dolphin shows. I'd want to see them twice a day at least. And I don't know -- they were a big part of my life, I guess, growing up."

Zoo officials say schools of fish and stingrays will likely replace the dolphins.