SAN DIEGO — A dolphin, now named Cardiff, was found stranded and injured on Cardiff State Beach at the end of January.
Both the public and SeaWorld Rescue stepped in to save the mammal and on Thursday CBS 8 was given access to see how Cardiff's recovery is going.
"It's a success story either way you look at it, back out to wild - or get a second chance at life here at SeaWorld," said Wendy Ramirez from SeaWorld's Rescue Team.
The long beak common dolphin was only a few months old, when he was found separated from his mother and washed ashore. A calf typically stays with their mom until the age of two.
"We performed x-rays, on his jaw and we found there were two broken areas on the upper jaw, and one broken area on the lower jaw," Jeni Smith said, who has also been working with the dolphin.
Cardiff had two surgeries, poolside, was tube-fed, and is now eating eight pounds of fish a day on his own.
"He looks like a normal young dolphin that's swimming around, checking out his environment. He has captured the hearts of many people here," Smith added.
For 60 years now, SeaWorld Rescue has rescued, rehabilitated and returned hundreds of animals to the wild, every year.
"It's an incredibly dedicated job, it's around the clock care," Ramirez said.
Due to Cardiff's age and injuries both SeaWorld and NOAA, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agreed. Cardiff might not survive back out at sea, so will stay at SeaWorld. Their average lifespan is 25 years.
"For a dolphin or a whale, when they strand they're in such bad shape, so the odds of them surviving is really really rare, so that makes it all the more special," Ramirez said.
In addition to swimming again on his own, Cardiff has a new mother. Another dolphin, a mom of six, has taken him in under her fin.
"With time and patience and her being such a good mom, it's been a really smooth process to introduce him," Ramirez said.
The trainers say it only confirms dolphins are family oriented, social and smart.
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