Dolphin dies of unknown causes at Mirage habitat

The Mirage reported today that one of the bottlenose dolphins at its dolphin habitat died last week.

Beetle, a 12-year-old male dolphin, died Oct. 27 from unknown causes. Pathology specialists are looking into the cause of death, the resort said.

Beetle had lived at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat since spring 2010.

“We will all miss Beetle very much,” Trevor Scherrer, the Mirage’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

In the wild, dolphins can live for 40 to 50 years. In captivity, the average lifespan is about 24 years.

The last dolphin death at the habitat occurred in 2009, when 2-year-old Sgt. Pepper died from complications from a lung infection.