‘Miracle’ dolphin has a new name

While judges of the Dolphin Discovery Centre’s dolphin naming competition may have read Dylan Sellars’ entry wrong, the 10-year-old says he is still proud of being named the winner.

The Australind Primary School student came up with the winning name for the latest addition to the Koombana Bay dolphin family – Divet.

Dylan admits he wrote ‘Diver’ on the entry form he completed while visiting the centre on its Open Day, but he has since researched what his credited winning name means.

Dylan said he was proud to claim the win.

“I’m really excited, I’ve never won a contest this big before,” he said.

Divet is the calf of one of the bay’s most loved dolphins, Nicky, who was attacked by a shark nine years ago.

Nicky was left with life threatening injuries and lost her dorsal fin, resulting in dolphin experts and volunteers branding Divet a “miracle” baby.

Dolphin Discovery Centre aquarist Jan Tierney said the name Divet stood out with its connection to the name Nicky in that her calf was filling the divot left from the attack.

Along with the naming rights to Divet, Dylan won a family pass for one of the centre’s Dolphin Eco Cruises.

Dylan said the cruise would be the first time he would get to see “one of my favourite animals” from a boat.