Winter Revisited




Winter in Panama & Winter's Zone

I wanted to visit Winter again before her movie, "Dolphin Tale," was released, so my mom and I took ourselves to Clearwater Marine Aquarium one recent afternoon.  Would Winter be the same after her starring role and so much publicity, or had she turned into a diva since my last visit? How much had the aquarium changed, and would Hope, CMA's youngest dolphin, be out and about in her tank?  And what cool new stuff would be in the gift shop?

Before heading to Winter and Panama's Zone, Mom and I went through the darkened area where golden-eyed stingrays whiz around their touch tank.  I love those guys, how silky-soft they feel, and it's fun watching them flip their wings as they swim.  Around the corner from the ray tank, we passed a quiet area where through a window we could see a sea turtle recovering from emergency surgery.  As we climbed the stairs to CMA's second level, we could smell the river otters, a mixture of sea creature and litter box. They're stinky, those otters, but they crack me up, because they're so rambunctious and full of life.  Plus, who can resist their liquid black eyes and long whiskers?

In their zone, Winter was swimming around the tank she shares with Panama, but she wasn't as energetic as she usually is.  The aquarium had opened late that day, due to morning press conferences, and it looked like Winter was pooped.  It's not easy being an in-demand star!  Winter was tired enough to skip her afternoon performance/dolphin demo with Panama, and swam into her individual tank.  Panama was up to her usual tricks, though, and Mom and I enjoyed watching her do her thing.  Afterwards, we went to Winter's tank, and watched her for awhile.  She was so relaxed, it made me want to take a nap. 

  

Winter in profile

While we were standing at Winter's tank, a man and young woman walked up next to me, and the guy started telling his companion about Winter, her habits, how friendly she is, how he thought she learned to recognize him during the months it took to shoot "Dolphin Tale."  At first, in my mind, I was thinking, "blah, blah, blah," but the longer I stood there, the more he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.  I didn't know it until later, when I saw his photo on CMA's Facebook page, but that guy was Charles Martin Smith, who directed "Dolphin Tale."  So, I guess he did know a few things about Winter. 

Sleepy Winter

Since Winter was making up both yawn, Mom and decided to move up one more level to watch Nicholas, who definitely was not worn out.  He leaped through the air, chased after toys, and raced around his tank, which had us all laughing and clapping.  There's something incredibly joyous about watching dolphins, because they look like they're having so much fun.  And I'm happy Nicholas has a safe place to live, since he's another one of CMA's resident dolphins who can't be re-released into the wild.

Nicholas

If Winter were ever to have competition in the cute and charm departments, it would be from Hope, CMA's latest rescued dolphin.  Like Winter, she was found injured in the wild, and was brought to CMA to recover.  Still a baby, she's being trained and rewarded with a combination of bottled formula and solid fish.  I'd never seen such a tiny dolphin before, and she really is a sweet thing.  It's reassuring to know she's in good hands, and will flourish and grow ... and maybe have her own movie one day?

Hope

A lot has been written about Winter's prosthetic tail,  how she overcame losing her tail to live a healthy, full life, and what an inspiration she's been to people who've lost limbs.  Well, I'm here to tell you she's also an inspiration and joy to at least one person with Alzheimer's Disease: my mom.  My mom may not remember afterwards she's been to the aquarium, but during the time she's there, she's nothing but smiles.  She loves all the animals at CMA, but Winter is the one she remembers.  That makes me love Winter even more.

And, no, Winter hasn't turned into a movie star diva.  And, yes, there was some cool new stuff in the gift shop.

Update:  I started this entry quite some time ago, and have since seen "Dolphin Tale" twice.  The first time, I thought it was a little too sweet, not that I didn't cry!  But when I watched it again recently, I really appreciated the story - no amount of Hollywood can change what really happened to Winter, and what a great place the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is.

What does everyone else think about the film?  Who's visited Winter at CMA?

Anclote Key State Park

Fishing boats along the Sponge Docks

Sometimes it's fun to play tourist in your own backyard, and having out-of-town guests is always a great excuse to do touristy things you probably wouldn't do on your own.  One advantage of living in Florida, is there's an abundance of activities aimed at toursits, which means it's always time to play.  Another advantage is someone is almost always expecting out-of-town guests, in this instance Anna and her sister, Nellie, so The Way Eye See It was off on local adventure.

Tarpon Springs is an small town in our area known for, among other things, its Greek heritage.  There are several Greek restaurants and shops selling touristy stuff, as well as Greek souvenirs and food on Dodocanese Blvd, the main drag along Tarpon's historic sponge docks.  It's definitely like stepping into an Agean-blue slice of Greece: Greek language, Greek food, Greek music floating out shop doors, and, if the sponge boats have unloaded their hauls for the day, the salty ocean smell of sponges.

For as long as I can remember, there's been a guy on the docks shouting out departure times for Sponge-o-Rama's Dolphin Cruise, which I always thought was prettyy cheesy, until Anna and Nellie mentioned the trip now includes a stop at Anclote Key State Park, home of Anclote Lighthouse.  That turned the tour into something much more interesting, because, unless you have a boat, one of these tours is the only way to get out to Anclote Key (and the 3 other keys in Anclote Key State Park).

If you're going to take a Dolphin cruise, I highly recommend lunch at one of the Greek restaurants along the sponge docks.  We enoyed greek salads and saganaki (opa!) at Mykonos, which I think has better food than Hellas, one of the more well known restaurants.  If the seas look rough, though, I recommend lunch after the cruise!

Anclote Key Lighthouse is three miles off the coast of Tarpon Springs, and before hitting the Gulf of Mexico, you pass various sights along the Anclote River, like the house used in the 1953 movie "Beneath the 12 Mile Reef," starring a young Robert Wagner.  As for me, I was more interested in the wildlife action, and there was a lot. In the Gulf we saw dolphins, all kinds of sea birds, and, amazingly, an osprey chasing  an eagle across the water for its fish.  I had my money on the eagle to win, but, wow, that osprey stole the eagle's fish! 

The approach to the lighthouse, watching it get bigger and bigger, is really cool.  It's not your traditional looking lighthouse, but a metal, rust-colored skeleton shape. Currently opperated by the state of Florida, and on the National Historic Register, Anclote Lighthouse was built in 1887, deactivated in 1985, and relit September 13, 2003. 



Anclote Key Lighthouse



If you're into shelling, Anclote Key is the place to be.  Before we got off the  boat, the captain passed around little bags for shell collecting, and it didn't take long for the shellers to fill them up.  It was tempting to stop and look at all the pretty shells in the sand, but Anna and I decided try and get closer to the lighthouse. We'd also heard Anclote was great for birding, although, since we were docked for only 30 minutes, time was at a premium.  We hoofed it across the sand, but soon realized we'd never make it to the lighthouse, so stopped and soaked it up from afar.  Meanwhile, little semi-palmated plovers and willets cruised by, moving in and out of slight strips of water. At least we saw 2 of the 43 species of birds who live there.

Thirty minutes flew way too quickly, and it was time to head back to Tarpon.  Nothing as spectacular as eagle vs osprey happened on the return trip, but we saw more dolphins, and even passed an outbound sponge boat, another tourist trip, complete with sponge diver in authentic sponge diving suit, and a sponge diving demonstration.  I always thought that had the potential to be cheesy, too, but now.... Well, I'm ready to play tourist in Tarpon Springs again.  Does anyone have any guests on their way?

Sponge Diver