Dolphin Story Ends Swimmingly

Notch and Naia are two very lucky dolphins, reports Beatriz Canals of WFOR-TV in Miami. They're lucky to be alive.

They and 70 other rough-toothed dolphins ended up stranded in Florida's Marathon Key early last month.

Notch and Naia beat the odds.

"Eighteen (we) were able to get out to deep water right away," says Lurie King of the Marine Animal Rescue Society. "Twenty, unfortunately, died during the stranding. The remaining 32 were brought to three different rehabilitation sites. Notch and Naia, because they were hanging out together, were brought here."

Adds volunteer Elaine Desmaris, "I am gonna miss them. They've become part of my life here. You know, all I do is go to work and come here to take care of the dolphins."

But while the two will be missed, notes Canals, the mission to place them back in the wild was welcome by all, happy to see the dolphins heading back home after getting a clean bill of health.

Notch and Naia were placed on a Coast Guard vessel, and taken out to sea a few miles east of the Miami Seaquarium, where they dove back in the water and swam away, back into familiar territory.