Hanging with a movie star.

Winter giving me a big smile!

Winter showing me his missing flipper.

Winter's prosthetic tail. He doesn't wear it all of the time.

Panama and Winter playing. Panama was grabbing Winter's tail.

Winter from under the tank.

Winter playing with a toy.

A resident otter.

I had Martin Luther King Day off. Of course, it rained. I had to get out of the house so I headed over to Clearwater beach to visit Winter, the dolphin who lost his flipper as a baby years ago. There was a movie telling his story recently made with him starring as himself that is to be released this coming October. The movie people built a nice big outdoor dolphin pool at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium that Winter and Panama share together. The rest of the aquarium was indoors but I stood outside in the drizzle for an hour watching Winter play in his outdoor pool.

There are other animals there as well. Lots of turtle with missing feet. Right now they have a turtle hospital set up with turtles that are sick and beached themselves from the cold weather. Last winter the aquarium nursed back to health and released hundreds of cold stunned turtles. It's already happening again this year. If you are ever in the Tampa Bay area, stop by and hang out with a movie star. You won't get his autograph, although you may get splashed by him.

http://www.seewinter.com/

Winter's Tale - the movie star that lives in Clearwater!

Last February I posted some pictures of Winter, the injured dolphin that lost his tail and learned to swim with a prosthetic one. A movie has just been made about his story starring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman here in Clearwater. The release date for the movie is some time in October of 2011. This past Saturday was the day of the wrap party and another baby dolphin gets stranded.  The team at Clearwater Marine Aquarium was getting ready for the party when they got a call to rescue a baby dolphin.

Check out the full story here - http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1139837.ece

Check out Winter, the movie star here - http://www.seewinter.com/.

The aquarium is re-opening this week after being closed for filming for about 2 months.  I'm going to try and get there to see the new baby dolphin in the next few weeks.

Winter's tale

Winter's smiling face.



Winter seems to love scratching her belly on the float.


Winter getting a check up.

Winter's prosthetic flipper sitting on the table. This is a newer model she was getting.

I recently stopped by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. I hadn't been there in several years and the weather was threatening to rain so I headed indoors to see the dolphins and turtles. Winter was found in 2005 by a fisherman near Cape Canaveral. She was tangled up in a buoy line and it was cutting of the blood supply to her tail. When she was rescued they had to amputate her flipper. She was able to adapt without it but in the long term it would do damage to her spine so a team of scientist came up with a prosthetic tail for her to be able to swim properly. It's amazing what people can come up with. Winter seems to be doing well. There are currently 3 other dolphins there for Winter to play with that all have permanent injuries. The aquarium was busy rehabilitating over 70 turtles that had been stranded from cold stress during the cold spell.

Winter's webcam - http://www.seewinter.com/get-involved/media/webcams/winters-webcam