Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Sadly, Winter the Dolphin, who not only inspired two movies, but also helped spread the message of wildlife and nature conservation all over the world, has passed away. Her ashes were returned to the ocean last week in a tearful ceremony.

Remembering Winter The Dolphin

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

For those who don’t know, Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, first arrived at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida in 2005 after she became entangled in a crab trap line. The ordeal cost Winter her tale. However, she learned how to swim and survive with a prosthetic tail. That’s right! From then on, she became a staple of the Aquarium, inspiring people worldwide. Unfortunately, she passed last November due to an inoperable intestinal problem.

“Being able to return Winter to her natural home was the best feeling in the world,” Kelly Martin, Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s vice president, wrote in a statement. “Our goal at Clearwater Marine Aquarium is always to rehabilitate rescued marine life so they can return to the wild. In Winter’s case, as is the case with all non-releasable animals, she unfortunately could not complete her return to the wild in life. But today, we were able to give her that final step –- a return home.”

“While we are heartbroken by Winter’s death, we are comforted knowing that our team did everything possible to give her the best chance at survival. We worked with specialists and marine mammal experts from around the country to provide her with the best care available,” a veterinarian who works at Clearwater, Dr. Shelly Marquardt, said in her own statement. “I’m honored to work alongside such dedicated and talented professionals who gave their all for Winter.”

However, Winter’s story affected much more than just the people at Clearwater…

Continuing Winter’s Legacy

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Winter the dolphin’s incredible story led not only to a book, entitled Dolphin Tale, but also two movies. Both movies, Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2, starred Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman, and Winter appearing as herself in both movies.

“Winter was an extraordinary creature,” Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, the producers of the film, said in a joint statement following Winter’s passing. “She inspired millions of people all over the world with her courage, her fortitude, and her joy. She may no longer be with us in body, but her indomitable spirit will continue on through the lives of all those that she touched,” they wrote. “We are deeply honored to have been a part of telling her amazing story to so many fans across the globe.”

In a funeral fit for a dolphin as inspiring as Winter, the service started with a C-130 flyover by the U.S. Coast Guard. Afterward, members of the Aquarium read a poem before releasing Himalayan sea salt urn containing the dolphin’s ashes into the Gulf of Mexico, along with flower petals. The aquarium team blew bubbles to finish the ceremony, one of Winter’s favorite enrichment activities. Meanwhile, Clearwater Marine Aquarium will continue to remember Winter with both an onsite memorial and virtual reality experiences.