If love is in the air, one would be forced to ask oneself "what is in the water?" at the Maritime Museum.

Bailey, one of the dolphins at Dolphin Quest Bermuda is pregnant again, but so are four of the staff that work with her.

Michelle Campbell, director of animal management at the Dockyard-based facility, said the news has proved exciting for all those involved and that the pregnant staff members would be posing for photographs with Bailey.

"Bailey, at age 13, is expecting her third Bermudian calf in the spring of 2003," said Ms Campbell. Bailey's sons, Somers and Malabar, aged two and four respectively, are healthy and thriving.

"We anticipate a successful pregnancy. Our training staff is continuing Bailey's preventative prenatal care and motherhood training in an effort to increase her chances of producing a healthy calf."

Plans are for the Keep lagoon at the museum to serve as the nursery for the new calf.

During the delivery, Bailey will be aided by her female dolphin companions and she will be monitored around the clock by Dolphin Quest staff.

A release from the company said that Bailey's pregnancy is seen as a positive reflection on the dolphin's environment at the museum. "It shows their social, physiological and habitat needs are being met successfully," the release read. Dolphin Quest said that although there is a great deal of excitement about the pregnancy, "it is important to be realistic about the possibility of future complications or loss".

"Studies of wild dolphins have shown a high mortality rate in the first year of life, with newborn survival estimated at less than 50 percent."

Research by Dolphin Quest veterinarians in the 1980s led to the development of fetal growth charts, enabling the evaluation of dolphin fetal development and the ability to predict due dates more accurately.