Tails of triumph
A pair of dolphins with larger-than-life stories helped transform the tourism industry in a Florida beach town
CLEARWATER, FLA.— They’ve come from near and far, parents in tow, to this magical but very real place they saw in the movies, and on what is likely the first pilgrimage in their young lives. “Where’s Winter?” They’re insistent, single-minded, frantic. “I want to see her tail. Where’s her tail?” We, the parents whose families have been swept up by the Dolphin Tale franchise, make a beeline for the dolphin who got tangled in a crab trapline as a baby, lost her tail and learned to swim without it before being fitted with a prosthetic tail.
There she is, gliding around one of the two back pools in the “Winter Zone” at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The back pool is shaded and we’re kept at a respectful distance behind railings.
“These back pools provide a ‘quiet zone’ sanctuary for our animals to use as they choose,” a sign explains. “The various pools allow different levels of viewing for our guests, so the dolphins may choose the visibility that suits them at any given time.”
Young Dolphin Tale lovers take this news in stride. It doesn’t take more than a glance to satisfy the collective itch to see Winter. She swims well without her prosthetic tail and it’s uncomfortable, so you probably won’t catch her wearing it unless she’s doing physical therapy.
“Winter’s, like, really popular,” my 7-year-old Hazel muses, eyeballing the growing crowd. “There’s Hope. Awwww — she’s an adult now.”
Hope — the bottlenose dolphin found nursing on her dead mother and who made Dolphin Tale 2 possible — is frolicking in the big, sun-splashed front pool with a trainer.
Clearwater has always worshipped dolphins, but Winter, Hope and the two Hollywood movies they inspired in 2011 and 2014 have had a profound impact on this sleepy tourist town renowned for its white sand beaches.
Call it the Dolphin Tale effect. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium has had a $2-billion (U.S.) economic impact here between 2012 and 2015, according to a new economic impact study it commissioned.
Aquarium attendance skyrocketed from about 165,000 in 2010 to an estimated 800,000 last year. Visitors spend money throughout the area in hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses, sustaining about 11,000 jobs.
“We’re loved by everybody,” enthuses aquarium CEO David Yates. “We rescue animals, we inspire kids and our economic impact has been enormous.”
Yates, once the CEO for the company that made the Ironman triathlon brand, joined the aquarium in 2006 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Winter had just arrived on a cold December night and he started spreading her amazing story.
Eventually, Hollywood (Alcon Entertainment) came calling. Yates knew full well what would happen “when you blow up a family beach destination with movie-induced tourism.”
Both Dolphin Tale movies were filmed at the aquarium. Parents know the movie’s adult stars Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick, Jr. and Ashley Judd, but kids relate to its young stars Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Austin Highsmith (a.k.a., Sawyer, Hazel and Phoebe).
The non-profit aquarium is in an abandoned waste-treatment centre on Island Estates between Clearwater Beach and downtown. In 2011, with no room to expand, it leased space downtown to build Winter’s Dolphin Tale Adventure to celebrate the movie franchise.
Don’t skip this experience, and take the free boat shuttle one way and trolley the other. You’ll need the better part of the day to do the aquarium properly. Yates is now spearheading a $48-million expansion and fundraising drive to build a larger dolphin habitat, parking garage and a pair of four-storey buildings. He’s hoping to privatize a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway outside to create a natural habitat with a “sea-pen-type environment.”
There won’t likely be more movies, but Yates has television dreams and there’s a new, bimonthly reality web series called Rescue-Clearwater. Aquarium entrance fees are modest ($15 to $20), but you can splurge on animal encounters, boat adventures, tours, photo ops and branded souvenirs in two gift shops.
The aquarium is a magnet for people with disabilities, war vets, the terminally ill and trauma victims. The Dolphin Tale stories, about facing life-changing illnesses and injuries, strike a global nerve and teach us all to be more sensitive.
Dolphins “inspire the human spirit,” says Tom Orr, the board’s past chairman, on a behind-the-scenes tour that explores the aquarium’s history, mission and work.
The aquarium doesn’t “buy and breed.” It rescues, rehabilitates and releases (when possible) marine animals such as dolphins, pelicans, sea turtles and river otters. There are sharks, stingrays and a sea cavern touch cave. “Permanent residents,” such as Winter and Hope, have been deemed non-releasable.
Winter has no tail and Hope and Nicholas (the third dolphin here) were orphaned before they learned to hunt. Nicholas played Christa in Dolphin Tale and Mandy in the sequel.
“Please don’t tell Nicholas he plays a girl in the movie,” pleads Orr.
The energetic dolphin only had bit parts in the movies, but is a favourite here. He has his own home on the “stranding deck” — apart from Winter and Hope — and likes to jump and do flips when training.
This isn’t SeaWorld, mind you. Visi- tors can watch training sessions (not performances) throughout the day, but the dolphins call the shots.
My daughter spends a few precious minutes with Hope during the trainer for a day program.
“For a little bit, Hope just went to try to talk to Winter,” Hazel informs me. “When it’s play time, she can do whatever she wants. She doesn’t have to actually play with us.”
Young pilgrims understand this intuitively, and they’re fine with it. Jennifer Bain’s trip was sponsored by the city of Clearwater, which didn’t review or approve the story.