There are so many Humans that could use $83,000 life saving treatments. A 37 year old dolphin? = shark food. Sorry for you Fugi, your tale was made by Bridgestone. It will fail you in high speed tail wheelies, causing you to drown. What irony.
How on Earth is that worth $83,000? I don't mean to say that it's an inappropriate way of spending that amount of money (well, maybe I am) but I really mean: HOW is it worth $83,000?! It's a couple of pounds of rubber!
@5: Easy, research.. that thing has to stay on no matter what, has to be stiff enough, rigid enough, etc. etc. Don't just base the cost on the material, if you factor in the hourly rates of researchers, manufacturing (remember, cost has to be carried by 1 product instead of tens of thousands), etc. etc., it's easy to get to such amounts of money.
No, really, let to dolphin die and give dozens of wheelchairs to needy people. Which option would you choose? If you've earmarked $80,000 towards "some charitable goal" wouldn't it make more sense to help your buyer base? At the very least. On a more humanitarian basis it's better to help a dozen humans than a single dolphin.