Hey All!
I recently had the amazing opportunity to head to the home of the star of Dolphin Tale 2, Winter the dolphin. It was my first time to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. I was thrilled for the opportunity as I have heard so much about Winter and have always wanted to see her up close and personal. I could not wait to see this Dolphin that could. The aquarium has become hugely popular since the first film came out.
It’s sure to be even more popular as people will want to come see Winter the dolphin from the new film coming to theaters.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium truly relishes in their Dolphin tale. The story of Winter and Dolphin tale is prevalent through out the aquarium. In case you’ve never heard of Winter or seen the first Dolphin Tale Movie, Winter was a dolphin found stranded near Cape Canaveral, Florida when she was just three months old.
She had been entangled in a crab trap, which cut off the circulation to her tail flukes which ultimately caused her to lose her tail. Winter was then fitted with a a prosthetic tail. She learned to use the prosthetic tail in order to keep her swimming like a normal dolphin up and down. But when the tail is off she has learned to swim side to side. They train her on the tail and provide her physical therapy each day to keep her healthy. They also try to limit her swimming from side to side as it can cause her to have health issues in the future as that is not a healthy way for a dolphin to swim.
Winter’s trainer showed us her tail and the special rubber like sleeve that was invented just for Winter. It’s now actually used on humans too, in particular wounded war veterans!
CEO of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, David Yates also shared with us stories about how Dolphin Tale 2 came to be and Winter and Hope’s rescue and the parallels between their rescues. He also spoke about the mission of the Aquarium, which is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release.
The team at Clearwater Marine Aquarium is dedicated to not only saving sea life, but they are dedicated to inspiring people with disabilities with Winter’s story.
When we finally got to meet Winter and her best friend Hope, it was truly inspiring to see how smart and amazing these animals are.
Winter and the dolphins at the aquarium are very well trained and cared for. It truly shows by how happy the animals seem.
The aquarium not only houses dolphins but all sea like that is injured like this sea turtle and a sea otter that has paralyzed back legs.
They also have a stingray pool where you can actually pet stingrays! It was truly a great experience to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium!
You should definitely visit it and say hi to Winter if you are ever in the area!
The Aquarium is located at 249 Windward Passage in Clearwater, Florida.
If you can’t make it there, be sure to see Winter and Hope in Dolphin Tale 2 in Theaters now!
Welcome!
Comments
I want to see Dolphin 2. I really love dolphins.
That is so cool! I know my kids, who were big fans of the first movie, would get a kick out of seeing Winter in real life. I mean, it’s not every day you get to meet a movie star!