Winter the Dolphin

Winter (c. October 2005 – November 11, 2021) was a bottlenose dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida, United States, and was widely known for having a prosthetic tail. Winter was the subject of the 2009 book Winter's Tale, the 2011 film Dolphin Tale, and its 2014 sequel. Winter was found in the coastal waters of Florida on December 10, 2005. At the time, she was just a young dolphin around two months old. She had become entangled in a crab trap line, which was cutting into and deforming her peduncle and tail flukes. Despite rescue efforts by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and being transported to[1]Clearwater Marine Aquarium, her injuries were too severe and the majority of her tail was lost to necrosis.[1][2] The loss of her tail caused Winter to swim unnaturally with her tail moving side to side instead of up and down. The team at Clearwater Marine Aquarium made intensive efforts to accommodate Winter and give her a good quality of life. A major breakthrough came when they partnered with Hanger Clinic, a provider for prosthetics, and created the first-ever functional prosthetic tail for a dolphin. Winter's new tail was used primarily for physical therapy and allowed her to swim with the same speed, flexibility and maneuverability as a dolphin with a biological fluke.[3] Winter became a highly popular attraction at the aquarium. She was first introduced to a dolphin named Panama and later lived with two other dolphins, Hope and PJ.