<p>Sixteen dolphins from a marine park that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina _ including several dolphins swept out to the Gulf of Mexico and later rescued _ have been moved to a resort in the Bahamas.</p><p>The dolphins, which have been housed at temporary locations around the country, were transported to Mobile, Ala., and loaded onto an airplane for the final stage of their trip to the Atlantis Resort, officials said.</p><p>Another dolphin was left behind because she is ill, but will be flown to the Bahamas when she is healthy, said Stacey Coltraine, a former trainer of the dolphins.</p><p>The 17 mammals lived at Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport until the park was hit by Katrina on Aug. 29. Eight of the dolphins were pulled out to sea, but were rescued after biologists spotted them while doing aerial surveys.</p><p>While the dolphins were well cared for at their temporary sites _ on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Florida, Maryland and New Jersey, officials were concerned that cold weather and the effects of separation could soon take a toll.</p><p>The dolphins will be reunited and live in seven interconnected resident pools at Atlantis, a resort on Paradise Island, with more than 6 million gallons of sea water.</p><p>The mammals' fate is at the center of a legal battle between the two owners of Marine Animal Productions, Donald P. Jacobs and Dr. Moby Solangi.</p><p>The company owns the dolphins, and the lawsuit involved a dispute over the percentage of Solangi's stock ownership and the animals' future. Solangi's legal dispute with Jacobs involves the dolphins because the mammals represent a major portion of the company's assets.</p><p>Solangi, also the former president of Marine Life, had tried to keep the dolphins in the U.S.</p><p>"We're concerned about them going to a foreign country," said Solangi's lawyer, Beau Stewart. "We question whether they can be returned even if the court orders it. That will ultimately be in the hands of the Bahamaian government."</p><p>The resort will also take on 24 sea lions and 22 exotic birds from Marine Life.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc588)</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc6e4)</p>
