Hawaii dolphin whose birth was viral video gets a name
Mama dolphin Keo gave birth to a female calf Sept. 17 in a lagoon for Hilton Waikoloa Village’s Dolphin Quest Hawaii program. The dolphin birth was recorded on underwater video and has been posted on YouTube at youtu.be/6jCJiO75pxo.
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii >> Officials have named a baby dolphin whose birth captured on video became a viral video hit.
Lehua is one of three baby dolphins born recently at Dolphin Quest Hawaii at the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort on the Big Island.
Footage from Lehua’s birth shows the baby dolphin’s tail moments before she emerges from her mother. Once she is born, she shoots up to the water’s surface to take her first breath.
Dolphin Quest Hawaii held a naming contest for Lehua and two other babies born in the manmade lagoon after closely monitoring their first months of life.
Dolphin Quest officials say more than 1,200 names were submitted from the public.
The winning name was suggested by Kapua Smith of Keller, Texas. Lehua means “beautiful flower” in Hawaiian.
