Interpreting for her Family at the Zoo

Brookfield Zoo encourages all its YVC participants to take their families on an almost-behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo and share the animal facts they have learned as a result of being involved in the YVC program.  We started our zoo day in the butterfly exhibit, where Erin and Baird were lucky enough to have butterflies land on them.

One of the things Erin learned this summer was how to remove a butterfly from clothing without injuring the oh-so-delicate wings.

After the butterflies, we toured the Fragile Kingdom exhibits before heading over to the seal and dolphin area.

Everyone who knows Erin knows how much she loves dolphins.  We spent quite awhile viewing the dolphins in the underwater viewing area.  Nea, a four-year-old dolphin, was playing chase with one of the older, larger dolphins.  I remarked to Erin that I'd never seen the dolphins swim that fast in the tank before.  She agreed.  Nea swam around to the other side of the tank that's not visible in the underground viewing area, and we moved on to other exhibits.

It was much later in the day before we realized that that very fast swim of Nea's was the last we would ever see of her.  In a tragic, freak accident, Nea apparently collided with another dolphin and fractured her skull.  She died moments later, in spite of the zookeeper's best efforts to save her.  Erin was shocked at the news.  She was very upset, but she managed to handle herself well the rest of the day.