Harley, the Minnesota Zoo's newest dolphin, died Saturday afternoon after jumping out of his pool and fracturing his head on the concrete deck.
The dolphin calf, which had just turned seven months of age, apparently panicked in swimming between two back pools at the zoo that have been his home since birth.
Harley - whose name was picked from 10,000 entries last summer in a zoo-sponsored naming contest - had started training Wednesday to go between the east and west back pools through a channel, zoo officials said.
Saturday afternoon, the calf had gone from the east "maternity" pool to the west pool with his mother, Rio. Rio returned to the east pool, and as Harley swam toward the channel, he leapt out of the water and landed on the deck.
Trainers returned him to the water, zoo officials said. After a while, Harley stopped coming up for breaths. Divers were sent in to aid him, but to no avail.
Harley was never on display for zoo visitors, but could be seen 24 hours a day on the zoo's Webcam. He was born June 21 to Rio, a 33-year-old dolphin who has long been a fixture at the Minnesota Zoo.
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