It had been five years since I had been to the Aquarium. I thought it had only been a couple of years, but in looking back for my pictures I discovered it had been longer. At one time we had been members of the aquarium, and we would all go on a Sunday to spend a few hours exploring. After Winter came to stardom, the aquarium seized the moment and became more of a tourist attraction and less of a place for the locals. I don't begrudge them that because the rehabilitation and rescue work the aquarium does is huge in this area and the finance aspect, just like at the Center for Great Apes, is huge. Tom, who use to sometimes just take the girls to the aquarium for an hour or so during the week, hadn't been there since the movie. (He also hasn't even seen the movie!)
We drove over, but parking was packed and they sent us back across the bridge to catch the trolley. The aquarium took over an old shopping building in downtown Clearwater and turned it into an exhibit area. We got our tickets there and took the ferry over to the old waste treatment facility that houses the aquarium and its animals.
It was a beautiful day for a boat ride. The weather was cool for April and the water serene. We waved at boaters and got an educational talk from the captain and first mate regarding wildlife in the gulf.
We got off at the boat ramp to the aquarium and went inside, stopping for some hot dogs and water on our way to the entrance. Once inside we followed the crowd to Nicholas the dolphin who was swimming outdoors and going through a training session. The aquarium is not an amusement park. It is a rescue, rehabilitation, and release center and it is serious about that. The presentations are all done to educate the visitors. The animals that live at the aquarium do so because they can not, for one reason or another, survive on their own in the wild.
We ended up going our separate ways to tour the aquarium. I like to spend my time when I'm there observing the dolphins and the otters. Just like the orangutans I find them both fascinating in terms of intelligence. What had changed since my last visit was the proximity to the dolphins. In the "old" days one could walk right up to the wall of the dolphin tank, but now there are ropes that keep people from doing this. It made getting pictures just a tad difficult and took away from what I loved about the aquarium. Ah, changes.
We did not get to see the demonstration of Winter getting her prosthetic tail usage time either. I've never not been there for that at the aquarium, but it doesn't done on a regularly scheduled time. None of the presentations are done on a timetable. It is all done on the animals timetable. I stood and watched the dolphins through a couple of trainer observations. They threw toys into the tank and observed the dolphins. Hope and Winter, the two rescued dolphins and stars of the two movies, are buddies and reside in the same three tanks. Hope spent a lot of her time "standing on her head" with her tail out of the water.
Below are windows to observe the dolphins from an underwater point of view. At one point the trainer was below with a two way mirror where the dolphins could see and so I did venture below for that demonstration. That is a great way to see just how Winter is without her tale.
It was a great visit as always. We ended up getting a membership so I expect that I will visit often to check in on the animals. I find the entire experience peaceful and serene. I've already decided that I shall come back as a dolphin in my next life.
We ended the trip by putting the three girls into a hurricane, category 1 simulator because...doesn't everyone want to experience that?
And then we took the trolley back to the exhibit area. Joyce joined Harry Connick Jr. on patrol while the rest of it called it a day. Tom grilled steaks and shrimp on the grill and we ate and drank and talked before hugging our South Carolina cousins good-bye. Until next time!
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