Sea World chose World Ocean Day to show off its latest attraction, a baby dolphin whose mum is almost old enough to draw a pension.
The Pacific Bottlenose calf's mother is 47-year-old Suzy, one of the oldest dolphins at the Gold Coast theme park.
Senior marine mammal trainer Shari Bryden says reaching 47 is quite a milestone for a dolphin and, like humans, having a baby at that age eight days ago is a real achievement.
"We don't know whether (the baby) is a girl or a boy yet but we're super excited," she told reporters.
"The life expectancy around the world in marine parks is about 35 years of age - here at Sea World we've been lucky enough to have some dolphins reach about 57. "So 47 is pretty good, but Suzy having a baby at 47 is just amazing." The new baby's 57-year-old father died of old age just six months ago.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The gestation period for Pacific bottlenose dolphins is 12 months.
Ms Bryden said the new arrival is likely to be trained to meet guests at the park once its mother is comfortable enough to introduce it to people in the water, which could be in about six months. Later, it will become part of Sea World's breeding program.
"We've just had a baby girl born three months ago and we're hoping to have a few more pregnancies later this year," said Ms Bryden.
"The last baby dolphins that we had here were about three years ago and we had two males, so it would be great if we had some females come along to match that.
"But ... it's just great to have a bub swimming around with Suzy."
