We were very blessed and fortunate to be able to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, FL this past week. It was a really fun day with lots of interaction with some local sea life. This small aquarium that was once in financial trouble now is a very popular stop thanks to this one creature....
This is Winter the dolphin and she has one amazing story to tell!! At only three months of age, Winter found herself wrapped tightly in a
crab trap line and was unable to escape. She was rescued from Mosquito
Lagoon (near Cape Canaveral) and transported to CMA to begin a long
rehabilitation. Unfortunately, Winter lost her entire tail as well as
two vertebrae a result of the serious injuries that she had sustained.
At only three months of age, Winter found herself wrapped tightly
in a crab trap line and was unable to escape. She was rescued from
Mosquito Lagoon (near Cape Canaveral) and transported to CMA to begin a
long rehabilitation. Unfortunately, Winter lost her entire tail as well
as two vertebrae a result of the serious injuries that she had
sustained.
Although her story is intriguing, it is also very
rare, as many dolphins unfortunately die in monofilament and crab trap
lines. Despite the odds against survival, Winter's energy and ability to
adapt to her new physical form has surpassed the expectations of many
experts. Winter has done amazingly well in the short time since her
stranding. She has completely healed and has learned to swim with a specially formulated prosthetic tail.
You may be thinking you have seen or heard this story before....well there has been a major motion picture made about her story called Dolphin Tale. It is a very good, clean, funny, heartwarming movie that is GREAT for all ages and for family movie night! Along with admission to the Aquarium, we were able to take a trolley ride to their other exhibit, Winter's Dolphin Tale Adventure, which is a huge building that is set up to make you feel like you are right in the middle of the set of the movie! There are tons of actual props used in the movie and lots of little tid bits of information from the wonderful staff and volunteers to make you feel as if you were right there! It was truly a blast of a day and we will definitely be going back!
If you would like more information about seeing Winter, want to read up on her amazing story of survival, or about the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and what they are doing to help save more "unwanted" and endangered sea life, please visit www.seewinter.com
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