One day during our trip week, Jay, Paul, Mike, and Jason joined some other guys to go deep-sea fishing. Tami, Penny, Allie, and I took Holden and Hunter to the Clearwater Marine. It is a rescue marine aquarium, most well-known for rescuing Winter the dolphin. There is a children's book out about her, and this summer, a movie starring Winter, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Harry Connick, Jr, will hit theaters. They just recently wrapped up filming in Clearwater. Winter had her tail caught in a crab trap as a baby, and as a result, she lost her tail. She has learned to swim like a fish without it, and also wears a prosthetic tail up to 3 hours a day to strengthen her backbone. There is also another rescued dolphin, Panama. It was neat to see them interacting and performing in a little show.
Love this picture of Hunter in the underwater viewing area. 
Here is Winter swimming. You can see that she is missing her tail. I was amazed at how fast she was in the water. 
Hunter loved watching Winter! He was banging on the window... 
...and she swam right up to see us! I just love how friendly dolphins are. They look like they are smiling, and they really interact with people.
She sat at the window for several minutes, and I think Hunter was in awe. He kept looking at her, looking at me, looking back at her, and putting his hands on the window. So cool! 
Holden was a busy boy at the aquarium. He enjoyed seeing everything but wouldn't really slow down and focus on one specific thing for any length of time. I just think he didn't want to miss anything. He got to pet stingrays, hold a sea urchin with Aunt Allie, and see all sorts of marine life. 
We had a great day at the aquarium! It is a neat little place. We are really looking forward to the movie! I bought the boys the book about Winter, and Holden picks it almost every night for one of our bedtime stories. I actually think he is more interested in her now that we are home and he has heard and processed the whole story of her rescue. I think next year if we go back to see her he will pause a little longer at her exhibit. :) 
No comments:
Post a Comment