"Newborn calves have fetal folds, or creases in the skin," said another aquarium spokeswoman, Molly Sheehan. "It's very cute."
Aquarium staffers will film the birth and hope to post the footage on their Internet blog at www.aqua.org/blog.
"We're going to do our best to tape it and catch what we can," Sheehan said.
Out of the nine calves born at the aquarium since its opening in 1990, two have died: a 10-day-old male, of bacterial meningitis; and a 4-month-old female, of pneumonia.
The female, known as Bridgit, succumbed to her infection after being roughed up by at least two grown males.
Both deaths occurred in 2004 and are consistent with mortality rate statistics, according to animal care staff.
"When one passes away, we do everything we can for that animal," said Clayton, who grew teary-eyed when she spoke of the deaths.
Survival mainly depends on the mothers, who must learn how to nurse and "swim" their calves, a term used to describe the way babies follow in their mothers' slip streams until they are able to swim on their own.
Since mothering is a learned behavior in dolphins, first-timers are paired with more experienced mothers.
Luckily for the unborn calves, Shiloh, 29, and Chesapeake, 16, have had two offspring each at the aquarium. In fact, in 1992, Chesapeake was the first dolphin born in Baltimore - and Shiloh is her mom. Aquarium staffers said Shiloh had at least one other calf before she arrived in Baltimore.
"Shiloh is a fantastic mother. She's permissive and protective of her young, which is a great balance," said a senior dolphin trainer, Beth Manning. "She's like the straight A student. Once she knows something, she knows it pat."
Chesapeake, on the other hand, has a slightly different learning style than her mother.
"She's an extremely quick learner, but can be confused later on about what she had learned," Manning said. "She's like the student who crams for the test."
Both dolphins are living in the nursing pool and assisting Jade, another mother, who gave birth to a male named Foster in September. Foster is now a playful and people-oriented calf, who eats eight pounds of fish every day.
"He will be curious of his new playmates when they arrive," said Allison Ginsburg-Kimmey, manager of dolphin training.
In the meantime, Shiloh and Chesapeake take it easy in the pool. As a dominant female, Shiloh plays with Foster and keeps the others in line, while Chesapeake would rather play with a hula hoop.
euna.lhee@baltsun.com
