Taishan the SeaWorld Dolphin

Content Description

Taishan, the soft-foam bottlenose dolphin is Tennessee Tech Univeristy Archives and Special Collections' most long-serving employee. Having stowed themself away in a drawer of the Joe L. Evins' desk for over 20 years for fear of retaliation from SeaWorld,Taishan is now both an employee and artifact in the collection, no longer fearing SeaWorld. Taishan has seen their share of employees and students come in an out of the archive. Having no obvious secondary sex characteristics, Taishan's gender is unknown. While the description suggests Taishan is in a "collection," the more appropriate term would be pod. As a bottlenose dolphin, Taishan is gray in color and darker near the dorsal fin. They have a thick and short snout and their belly is a light gray.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Provenance

Taishan stowed themself away in a Sea World attendee's tote in the late 1990s and gradually made their way to Middle Tennessee and the university. An opportunity many show animals at SeaWorld would like, Taishan saw a way out an took it. Fearing that their captors may atttempt to bring them back to SeaWorld, Taishan has been hiding in the desk of Joe L. Evins and occassionally processing collections for the archives for over 20 years.

Restrictions Apply

No