Clearwater Aquarium
Rescue, Rehab, Release!!!!
The Bargain
We first told our kids that we are going to India a week
before Christmas. The girls took the
news in stride, however, my kids are no fools.
We asked them to keep this a secret until after Christmas. This included keeping the secret to both
school and our family…..not an easy feat considering they had a few more days
of school as well as family coming over for the Christmas holiday. Our bargain, as struck by my nine year old,
was to promise to take them to see Winter and Hope at Clearwater Aquarium in
Tampa FL. Luckily, we had enough
American Airline and Marriott points to make this trip happen.
I will first begin by stating that the week leading up to
the trip was very stressful. Not only
were we trying to plan a move to India, which has been told in separate posts,
but we were dealing with the stress of telling both Abuela and Granny
Rayburn. For Granny Rayburn this
included a move. I am happy to say that
both Granny Rayburn and Abuela took the news in stride.
Back to Clearwater…… we arrived on a Friday evening and was
pleasantly surprised with the Residence Inn by Marriott in Clearwater. We had a beautiful room with a fireplace. We woke up the next morning ready to set off
on our adventure.
My kids have been enamored with Winter and Hope since the
Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale II movies have come out. In fact, when Olivia had her surgery, much of
her recovery was spent watching Dolphin Tale.
If you know her well, you know her life’s mission is to become a marine
biologist and more specifically to become a dolphin trainer. Both of my kids were mesmerized. I will admit that I was too.
At the aquarium we were able to see not only Winter and Hope
but how they rehab their animals through the animal hospital. Nicholas, which was another dolphin that was
orphaned at an early age, is now a permanent resident at the aquarium. As the aquariums mission is to rescue, rehab,
and release, permanent residency at the aquarium only occur when there is no
other recourse. At first sight Nicholas
looked lazy….he was just floating along and showing his beautiful smile to
onlookers, however we heard from some of the staff and volunteers on sight that
Nicholas is a high energy dolphin. I
thought hmm…..but then we saw him in action and it brought a smile to my face.
I also want to take the time to give a big shot out to all
of the staff and volunteers at Clearwater.
They really take the time to talk to you and educate everyone who walks
through the door. As stated, Olivia
desperately wants to become a marine biologist….on a good day she asks a
million questions (many can attest to this), on a day where it is something
that interest her, she can ask even more.
All of the staff really took the time to educate her and speak with her and
answer ALL of her questions - A rarity for sure. They were all personable and attentive. When we walked in the door a staff volunteer walked
us through the hospital and spent a good 30 minutes educating us on the sea
turtle portion of the hospital.
The last part of the day we took a boat ride through the bay
and they did a pull with a net and showed us some of the local fish….pretty
cool minus the big huge wave that decided to crash on the side of the boat I
was sitting at….needless to say I was one of 40 that got drenched. Worth it at the end but it sure was cold
outside.
To see Winter is truly an inspirational story. We enjoyed spending time at the aquarium and
I do believe that someday we will be back.
Tampa is a lovely place and I would have enjoyed a few more days there. I can only say that both the girls and I
fulfilled our part of the “Bargain”.
more photos from our day:
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| This is Nicholas - the dolphin we thought was lazy |
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| Yes - Nicholas is NOT lazy |
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| Yes - Nicholas is NOT lazy |
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| Yes - Nicholas is NOT lazy |
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