Animal Lesson #14: Winter the Dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida

Winter, the dolphin movie star

 If your kids grew up watching Dolphin Tale movie (2011)  about a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap, they likely have special interest in visiting Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida.  The authors wrote the story based upon Winter the bottlenose dolphin and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium acted as the hero in creating a prosthetic so she could swim well.  The movie had such success that producers made a sequel called Dolphin Tale 2 (2014).  This sequel introduces a new dolphin superstar named Hope.  There's two other movie charters that live at the aquarium in real life - 1) Nicholas, a stranded dolphin briefly featured in Dolphin Tale and filmed in Dolphin Tale 2, 2) Rufus, a great white pelican trained for both movies and lives with 3 other great white pelicans.  Winter passed away in Nov. 2021, but you can still visit Hope at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

We visited during Spring Break and the place had quite the crowd.  My daughter even found a classmate from Illinois!  However, the facility significantly expanded since our trip, so enjoy the space.  There's no doubt that Winter was the star of the show and handlers showed the prosthetic and how well she could swim.  However, the aquarium offered other shows too and the animals showed off impressive stunts.  Kids will learn about conservation too.  The facility hosts many free talks throughout the day including 

Turtle Talk, Otter Talk, Resident Dolphin Talk, 

Stingray Talk, and Shark Talk.  

Turtle photo by Krenda

We listened to most of them and visited all the exhibits which included river otters, turtles, stingrays, sharks, and pelicans.

If you want to extend your experience, the aquarium offers a stingray feeding experience in which you can feed fish to stingray for $10 extra fee.  You can also purchase a 60-minute dolphin and wildlife tour boat ride, $20 for child or adult, which travels around a bird sanctuary island while the crew discusses local wildlife.

Aquarium entrance fee cost nearly $40 for adults and $30 for kids, but the fee supports a good cause.  The aquarium is run by a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of sick and injured marine animals.  Marine animals not fit to release remain at the aquarium.  Hats off to the aquarium employees, real heroes of the marine world.

Clearwater Marin Aquarium lists as a dolphinarium in wikipedia.  I didn't realize the special term for an aquarium for dolphins at marine parks, zoos, or theme parks.  I realized we have visited many other dolphinariums including Sea World, Georgia Aquarium, Indianapolis Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Shedd Aquarium, and Texas State Aquarium.  See also my blog article about a dolphin encounter in Honduras.  Our family just can't get enough of these smart creatures.