Clearwater Marine Aquarium facts for kids
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| Date opened | 1972 (As Clearwater Marine Science Center) |
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| Location | Clearwater, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 27°58′37″N 82°49′09″W / 27.97686°N 82.81907°W |
| No. of species | 59 |
| Volume of largest tank | 1.5 million gallons |
| Annual visitors | 750,000 |
| Major exhibits | 17 |
Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) is a special place in Clearwater, Florida, that's all about helping marine animals. It's a non-profit organization, which means it doesn't operate to make money, but rather to achieve its mission. That mission is to rescue, heal, and release sick or injured marine animals. They also teach people about ocean life, work to protect the environment, and do important research.
CMA first opened its doors in 1972 on Clearwater Beach. It's located in what used to be a water treatment plant, and those big pools turned out to be perfect for helping animals get better! Many animals who live at the aquarium permanently have serious injuries that mean they can't go back to living in the wild on their own.
One of the most famous residents was Winter, a bottlenose dolphin. She was rescued in 2005 after her tail got tangled in a crab trap. Sadly, she lost her tail, but the aquarium gave her a special prosthetic (artificial) tail. This amazing story brought worldwide attention to CMA! Winter even starred in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale and its sequel, Dolphin Tale 2, which were partly filmed right there at the aquarium.
A Look Back: CMA's History
The story of Clearwater Marine Aquarium began in 1972 when a group of volunteers decided they wanted to create a place where people could learn about marine biology in Clearwater. They formed a non-profit organization called the Clearwater Marine Science Center (CMSC).
In 1978, the city of Clearwater gave CMSC an old water treatment plant. This building was perfect for a marine facility because it had huge pools and was right by the bay. In 1979, marine biologist Dennis Kellenberger became the Executive Director. He started summer camp classes for kids and led a huge effort to remodel the building.
Slowly, the old concrete and steel building was transformed into an aquarium. In 1980, it received a special permit that allowed it to use two large 65,000-gallon pools to help dolphins and sea turtles recover. The first exhibit room opened to the public in 1981, showing off old exhibits from a local display called Sea-Orama. Thanks to donations and lots of volunteer help, CMSC kept growing.
A big moment happened in 1984 when CMSC rescued an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named "Sunset Sam." He was the first dolphin in Florida to survive being stranded on a beach! Because of ongoing health issues, Sunset couldn't be released back into the wild, so he became CMSC's first resident dolphin. He even learned to paint as a fun activity, and his paintings helped raise money for the aquarium's rescue programs!
In the 1990s, as more areas were renovated for visitors and new education programs were added, the facility's name changed to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). This new name better showed how much the aquarium was interacting with the community.
In 2005, CMA rescued its most famous resident, Winter the dolphin. Her story, and the special prosthetic tail she received, brought international fame to CMA and inspired the Dolphin Tale movies.
Meet the Animals!
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is home to many different kinds of marine animals, including manatees, North American river otters, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins, green sea turtles, Kemp's ridley sea turtles, cownose rays, southern stingrays, nurse sharks, great white pelicans, and various fish.
Every permanent resident at CMA is there because they were deemed "non-releasable" by experts. This means they have injuries or other problems that prevent them from surviving in the wild on their own. CMA is chosen as their permanent home because of the excellent care and facilities they can provide.
Our Dolphin Family
Current Dolphins
Hope
Hope is a resident dolphin at CMA. She was found in December 2010 when she was only 2 months old, trying to nurse from her mother who had sadly passed away. Because she was so young and hadn't learned how to survive in the wild from her mother, it was decided she couldn't be released. Hope co-starred in Dolphin Tale 2, which showed her rescue story. Today, Hope lives with Nicholas and Izzy and loves playing with squirt guns and bubbles!
Nicholas
Nicholas is an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. He was rescued on December 24, 2002, as a 6-month-old calf with his mother, who had become stranded. His mother died a few days later, and Nicholas was in very bad shape, suffering from severe sunburns and not getting enough food. CMA staff gave him 24-hour care, bottle-feeding him and treating his wounds until he fully recovered.
Like Hope, Nicholas couldn't be released because he was too young when he was rescued and didn't learn the survival skills he needed from his mother. Nicholas lives in the Ruth & J.O. Stone Dolphin Complex with other dolphins. He briefly appeared in Dolphin Tale and played a character in Dolphin Tale 2. He's known for his fun predictions of sports game winners, which is part of his daily enrichment!
Rudolph
Rudolph, often called Rudy, is CMA's first rough-toothed dolphin resident. He was found stranded off Sanibel Island in December 2019 when he was young. He became a permanent resident because he has a hearing problem that prevents him from using echolocation (like sonar) to find food and navigate in the wild. Rudy lives with Rosie, another rough-toothed dolphin.
Izzy
Izzy is a female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, estimated to be around 8 years old. She was rescued in June 2022 in Texas after people had been interacting with her illegally for several years. These interactions caused her health to get so bad that she needed to be rescued. She arrived at CMA on November 4, 2022. Now, she lives with Hope and Nicholas and loves playing with her favorite disc toy.
Rosie
Rosie is the newest rough-toothed dolphin resident at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. She was found stranded in February 2023. After her rescue, it was determined she couldn't be released because she is deaf and can't use echolocation. Rosie currently lives with Rudy, the aquarium’s other rough-toothed dolphin.
Past Dolphins
Winter
Winter, the most famous aquarium resident, was a female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. She was rescued on December 10, 2005, after being caught in a crab trap, which caused her to lose her tail. To help her swim normally and protect her spine, a special prosthetic tail was created for her by experts from Hanger, Inc.. Winter starred in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale and the 2014 sequel Dolphin Tale 2, both inspired by her incredible story. She lived in the Ruth & J.O. Stone Dolphin Complex. Sadly, Winter passed away on November 11, 2021, at the age of 16.
PJ
PJ (short for Panama Junior) was a female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin rescued in August 2018. At about 51 years old, she was the oldest rescued dolphin at CMA. PJ was found in shallow water in Old Tampa Bay. Even though she recovered well, she couldn't be released because of many health issues, including hearing and vision loss, worn teeth, and arthritis. PJ passed away in October 2022 from natural causes.
Hemingway
Hemingway was a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin found stranded at Fiesta Key, Florida, in 2019. After getting treatment at SeaWorld, he was moved to Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Hemingway became a permanent resident at CMA due to health problems and hearing loss. He passed away in January 2023 at an estimated age of 37.
Apollo
Apollo was a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin found stranded at Playalinda, Florida, in May 2021. He was taken to SeaWorld for care because he was thin and had parasites. A hearing test showed he had hearing loss, so in December 2021, he was transferred to CMA as a permanent resident. At about 2 years old, he was the youngest resident dolphin. Sadly, Apollo passed away in June 2023 at the age of 4 due to a condition called hydrocephalus.
Rex
Rex was one of the aquarium's first rough-toothed dolphins. He was found on St. George Island in April 2019, estimated to be 5 to 7 years old. Because of significant hearing loss, Rex became a permanent resident and lived with Rudolph. Rex passed away in March 2023.
Manatees
CMA opened its Manatee Rehabilitation Center in the summer of 2024! They welcomed their first patients, Yeti and Zamboni, on July 30, 2024. These two young male manatees were rescued earlier in 2024 because they were suffering from cold stress. They are currently getting care at CMA with the goal of being released back into the wild when they are healthy enough.
North American River Otters
The aquarium has three North American river otters. Walle was rescued as an orphaned pup and became too used to humans to survive on his own. Boomer arrived in 2018 from another facility and became Walle's good friend. The newest otter, Opie, is a young otter kit who was attacked by a dog, injuring his eye. Because of his time in rehabilitation, Opie lost some instincts needed to survive in the wild. He came to CMA in March 2024 for more veterinary care. All three otters live in the "Otter Oasis" exhibit.
Pelicans
Four great white pelicans named Ricky, Tyndall, Skylar, and Matthew live at the aquarium. They are the only residents who are not native to Florida. Ricky was even trained by a film company to play the role of "Rufus" in the Dolphin Tale movies!
Sea Turtles
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is home to one loggerhead, nine green sea turtles, and two Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Many of them were rescued by CMA after being hit by boats, getting tangled in fishing lines, or suffering other permanent injuries that prevent them from returning to the wild. They live in the "Turtle Cove," "Turtle Bayou," and "Mavis's Rescue Hideaway" exhibits.
Sharks
The aquarium has one fully-grown nurse shark named Thelma. She was illegally taken from the wild as a young pup by a private collector. When she outgrew her tank, the collector couldn't care for her anymore and donated her to CMA. Thelma shares her exhibit with other fish like hogfish, red drum, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, black sea bass, common snook, pinfish, red grouper, lookdown, and white grunt.
Stingrays
Cownose rays live in the "Stingray Beach" and "Mavis's Rescue Hideaway" exhibits. Visitors can even gently touch and feed them there!
Growing for the Future: CMA's Expansion
The 2020 Expansion
Clearwater Marine Aquarium has expanded to help even more marine life and provide better homes for its resident animals. This expansion also created more space for visitors! The rescued dolphin habitat now has five connected pools with about 1.5 million gallons of water, nearly three times the previous amount. This improved, more natural habitat is called the Ruth and J.O. Stone Dolphin Complex. Winter, Hope, PJ, Nicholas, and Hemingway were the first dolphins to move into this new area in 2020. The expansion also includes new education areas and a total of 103,000 square feet of new guest space, including a new cafe and gift shop. There's also a new parking garage with 400 spots. These new additions opened in October 2020.
"Rising Tides" Plan
In early 2024, CMA announced a new multi-year expansion plan called "Rising Tides." The very first part of this plan is the Manatee Rehabilitation Center, which welcomed its first manatee patients, Yeti and Zamboni, on July 30, 2024.
