Scene Around Town: Saying Goodbye to Gary

The dolphin shows at West Edmonton Mall will never be the same again.

Gary, a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, died on Saturday, May 19. He was 20 years old and the second dolphin at the Mall to die within a year (Maria, a female, died last August from an illness that was never able to be explained).

Known for his backwards tail walk, Gary was the Dolphin Lagoon's dominant male. Gary is survived by his dolphin friends Howard and Mavis. All four original dolphins were brought to the Mall in 1985 from Sarasota, Florida. Once Howard and Mavis are gone, they will not be replaced.

I happened to be at the Mall just a little over a week before Gary's death. What was originally intended as a photo essay about the dolphin shows that takes place at the Mall daily, is now a document of one of Gary's final public appearances.

The Photos