Dolphin with prosthetic tail gets ready for waves of publicity

WeirdNews

Dolphin with prosthetic tail gets ready for waves of publicity

Close

Winter, a 6-year-old dolphin lost her tail when she was three months and now uses a prosthetic tail.

22 August,2011 03:01 pm

Tourists who visit Hollywood are often disappointed when they discover that the celebrities they love arent exactly walking up and down the street.Thats not the case in Clearwater Beach, Fla., where visitors are guaranteed to see at least one celebrity: Winter the dolphin, the star and subject of the upcoming movie, Dolphin Tale, which stars Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.Winter, who turns six in October, lost her tail at three months old when she was caught in a blue crab trap off the coast of Florida and the blood supply to her tail was cut off by the rope.Doctors at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where she was taken after her injuries, thought she might die, but, amazingly, she lived.Initially, it was thought shed have to learn to swim without a tail, which doctors feared could cause scoliosis, as that would require her to move her back side-to-side instead of the normal up-and-down method.Without a tail, she swims side-to-side and that overproduces some muscles while underusing others, Kelly Martin, one of Winters five trainers told HuffPost Weird News.However, Kevin Carroll, vice president of prosthetics at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, who had previously designed prosthetics for dogs, an ostrich and a duck, volunteered to help Winter by designing a special tail prosthetic for her.This was more than five years ago, and since then, Winters fame has spread far and wide and has helped the aquariums attendance.Five years ago, we had 7,000 guests in the month of July, said Krista Rosado, director of marketing at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. We had 35,000 visitors this July.Rosado said she expects even more people will visit after Dolphin Tale opens nationally Sept. 23. The aquarium is trying to piggyback on the waves of publicity generated by the release by letting visitors know they can see a real-life star of a Hollywood movie seven days a week.And, in the off-chance Winter is unable to perform, Rosado said fans can see the next best thing: her prosthetic tail.