Today I connected with an old friend and met her at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  We were originally supposed to go back in November but due to circumstances, she had to cancel and my grandfather died that week we ended up not going then.  It took us like 6 months or so for our stars to align to try again.  This time we succeeded.

It was a total scorcher even at 1030 in the morning!  The Aquarium was once a water treatment plant and had a long history to come to what it is today. It all started in 1953 with a sea life aquarium called Sea-O-Rama (isn’t that an name from the old days or what?)

In  1972 the Clearwater Marine Aquarium was opened to the public on the site that was and old condemned water treatment plant which was donated to CMA by the city of Clearwater.   They established a marine animal hospital which is what makes it different than some aquariums. They rescue, rehab, and release (if they can) cetaceans, otters, and sea turtles.  Some are given permentant homes at CMA if they are believed not to be able to survive in the wild due to poor skills or disability

The first rescued dolphin was Sunset Sam and was the first surviving stranded dolphin!  On December 10, 2005 a infant dolphin was rescued near Cape Canaveral, Florida.  She was caught on a rope for a crab trap.  As she panicked to free herself from the ropes , the became tighter and tighter on her tail and in her mouth.   Due to lack of blood supply to her tail after her rescue it became necrotic and slowly fell sloughed off her body.  (They have a picture at the aquarium)  They were forced to amputate two vertebra due to them being exposed. She could swim in the pools without her tail but it would certainly cause damage to her spine.

Irish prosthetist Kevin Carroll, a vice president of Hangar Prosthesis company personally designed and fitted Winter with her prosthetic tail so she could swim like a normal dolphin.   I had the opportunity today to see the trainers but on her tail and watch her swim around her pool during her physical therapy session.  It was a wonder.

We also saw HOPE. Hope was found on December 11, 2010, in the shallows of Indian River Lagoon as an orphaned 2-month-old calf, still attempting to nurse from her mother, who had died after becoming beached.  She was a lovely character constantly showing us her tail.  We learned that when they were having the wrap party for A Dolphin’s Tale they got a call to go rescue Hope.    They are pretty much inseparable.

Also at CMA, they have rescued sea turtles.   They do sea turtle watches every day and mark new nests.  We got to see a couple of large sea turtles.

We saw Nicholas, a young dolphin who was found beached with severe sunburn on his skin.  He is in a rescue tank at this time.

We also got to see Cooper the paralyzed Sea otter. She was rescued in July 2001, she was found dehydrated and emaciated in the garage of a private St Petersburg citizen. Cooper had sustained abrasions and abscesses along his back, worn footpads and nails and partial paralysis in his rear legs. They believe he was sit by a motor vehicle.  He does well in his modified habitat at CMA and loves to hide under his blankets!

And we also saw Ricky (or Rufus as he is known in The Dolphin tale,) an African Great White Pelican.   Ricky now calls Clearwater Marine Aquarium home and serves as an important ambassador for his species and other sea birds that surround our waterways, helping bring awareness to wildlife along our coastal waters.

We went to the touch tanks and I touched a sea urchin who was spiny but kind of soft as well.  And I touched several Stingrays. They were equally velvet and slimy feeling.

We learned that CMA doesn’t see any royalties from A Dolphin’s Tale (The Story of Winter)  or a Dolphins Tale 2 (The story of Hope) so they rely on donations and visitors.  All gift shop purchases go back into rescuing and caring for the animals.  They need your help

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