DolphinTale

    Heard about Winter the dolphin? Well if not here's some background. In 2005 a dolphin was found caught in a crab trap that was tangles around her peduncle fin. Someone found her and she was immediately taken to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium which also functions as a Marine animal hospital. After a while her tail began to fall off in pieces and she was left with what looked like a nub. People thought that she might die because she didn't have a tail, and that's how they swim. Supposedly a doctor took interest in this and offered in expertise to help the young dolphin take back the life she was about to lose. So now Winter is known as the dolphin with the prosthetic tale, the only one of its kind. How cool is that?
    This past summer I got the opportunity to volunteer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and it was great. I got to learn more about the animal that I love and watch trainers up close and in action. Although sometimes it was overwhelming and crazy I would never change my experiences. My favorite dolphin there is Panama, she is a big girl coming in at like 500+ pounds! She is actually deaf as well so when the trainers had to tell her that the behaviors she did were correct they would point at her or give her a rub down. She is a sweet dolphin and I loved all of the other dolphins that they had there as well. Winter is an amazing animal with the will power to do anything. Panama is a stubborn but sweet dolphin in my eyes and a gorgeous creature. Nicholas who is the only male dolphin at the aquarium is a big ball of energy and actually suffered from sunburn when he was younger, if you've ever been that's what the white markings on his back are.The newest addition to the dolphin family at CMA is Hope, she is about a year old actually and was found with her dead mother and brought back to the aquarium and is actually thriving.

                                                    Winter with out her tail.

                                                  Winter with the prosthetic tail.

This is the newest edition Hope, she's SO tiny!

This big guy is Nicholas, you can see some of the scarring on the top of his head.

Lastly this is Panama, my favorite out of the CMA clan!

    Sadly I had to stop volunteering at the aquarium because of school but those days of learning and watching the trainers gave me the feeling of "I am on the right track." I want to train and work with the animal that has my heart, and another reason that I am so inspired to accomplish this dream is because I saw the movie DolphinTale. It is the true story of what happened to Winter and really shows you the both emotional and realistic aspects that occurred during the months that followed after she was found. It's crazy to think how smart dolphins really are, but its amazing to see them in action. If you haven't seen or heard about Winter I would definitely go to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and go to see DolphinTale! Both are a great experience. The aquarium always has a great staff on hand to answer your questions. CMA is definitely one of the reasons my dreams are beginning to swim true. (:

                   This is me holding up my DolphinTale poster after just seeing the premiere! 

It's a first for me!

Hi Followers,

   This is my first blog ever, my aunt has a blog about her life and her dream coming true so I thought why not share my dream and journey with people that may like to hear it? My name is Jill and I will be 19 next month.  Eleven years ago my life changed and unlike many college students I know what I want to do when I grow up. Many may think that what I want to do isn't ethical nor how the animal should be treated, but I guarantee you because I hold this animal so near and dear to my heart, I would never enter a career where they would be harmed.
   When I was eight years old I went on a family vacation to Sea World, my parents took my sister and I to all of the shows and showed us all the amazing sea life that lived around us. One animal stuck out at me and that was the Atlantic Bottle Nosed dolphin, when I saw the sleek creature in the water having that sense of freedom(yes even though it is in an enclosed pool) I realized that one day I will work with that amazing creatures no matter what it takes.
                           
         My first trip, I am the little girl actually touching the dolphin, I was about eight years old.

                             
                            Pictures from my most recent trip to Sea World in 2011   

             This is a Pilot Whale that is a part of the dolphin show, still a cute little guy!

                                     Before the Blue Horizons show began.

                                   A trainer playing in the water with a dolphin.

                                The set that will hopefully one day, be my own.

   All through my journey I have done research, read, watched and asked questions on the career of becoming a marine mammal trainer. All say that the pay is not much but the love the people have for what they do is more than enough. Before entering the college that I am attending now I was planning on going to school to become a veterinarian. I have a love for all animals and because of reading that trainers are not paid a lot, I decided to give up on my dream and just take a route that I knew would still be involving animals but just better paying. Then after realizing I have a strong dislike for blood, I decided that being a vet was not the job for me. Then a surprise trip to the place where it all began sparked my dreams back into play. Sea World had done it again, and being in the crowd watching the trainers work with the dolphins made me yearn to be in their position even more than ever.
   So there I was undecided but still on my way to a college in Georgia that did not offer the classes that I needed to become a trainer. When I was in my early years of high school I had researched a school that was in my home state and close to my hometown. They have an outstanding marine science program and are right by the water which gives it an advantage. Although the applying process seemed a little too late in the game I gave it a shot, and a week later I received a letter in the mail telling me that I was accepted into the college that was going to make my dreams, swim true.