Clearwater Marine Aquarium Inc

RESCUE, REHAB, RELEASE OF MARINE LIFE, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, INSPIRATION, RESEARCH & CONSERVATION.

EDUCATION:IN FY21, THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT LAUNCHED THE CMA MARINE ACADEMY VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. THE MARINE ACADEMY CONSISTS OF VIRTUAL LEARNING CONTENT FOR GROUPS, HOME SCHOOL GROUPS, AND SUMMER CAMP PROGRAMS. THE PROGRAMS FOCUS ON FUN STEM MARINE SCIENCE-BASED ONLINE CURRICULUM AND ACTIVITIES. KIDS CAN ALSO STAY CONNECTED WITH CMA BY PARTICIPATING IN VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS AND GETTING EMERGED IN LEARNING WITH HOPE'S HOME-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE AT THE EDUCATION STATION ON OUR WEBSITE. DURING FY21, WE HAD OVER 38,000 VIEWS FOR OUR VIRTUAL CURRICULUM OFFERED IN THE EDUCATION STATION AREA OF OUR WEBSITE. ALL OF CMA'S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING HAS A SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM) FOCUS. CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM HOSTED APPROXIMATELY 300 STUDENTS DURING OUR ELEVEN-WEEK SUMMER CAMP PROGRAM. OUR EDUCATIONAL ECO-BOAT TOURS INSPIRED 25,000 GUESTS TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT. ALSO, CMA PARTNERED WITH SEVERAL SCHOOLS TO OFFER MARINE SCIENCE-BASED VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP PROGRAMS. THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CONTINUED TO REACH MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY VIA VIRTUAL FESTIVALS AND OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS. OVER THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, CMA HAS GONE TO OVER 170 SCHOOLS AS PART OF THE GREAT AMERICAN TEACH-IN, REACHING OVER 10,000 STUDENTS. IN FY21, WE PARTICIPATED IN A VIRTUAL FORMAT WITH OVER 20 SCHOOLS. OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, CMA HAS GONE TO OVER 153 SCHOOLS AS PART OF THE GREAT AMERICAN TEACH-IN, REACHING OVER 8,250 STUDENTS.

ANIMAL CARE:MARINE MAMMALTHIS YEAR WE WERE HANDED A DEVASTATING BLOW. IN NOVEMBER, THE LOSS OF WINTER HAD PROVEN TO BE AN EVENT FILLED WITH EMOTION FOR THE ANIMAL CARE TEAM. UNFORTUNATELY, WINTER'S PASSING WAS DUE TO A TORSION, OR TWIST, IN HER INTESTINES THAT COULD NOT BE REVERSED. WHILE THE TEAM CONTINUES TO GRIEVE, WE HONOR HER LIFE WITH US AND APPRECIATE THE STRENGTH, POWER, AND PASSION THAT SHE HAS GIVEN TO THE COMPANY, THE COMMUNITY, AND TO OUR INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS.THERE WERE QUITE A FEW SUCCESSES IN 2021 FOR ANIMAL CARE. THE MOST EXCITING WAS THE ADDITION OF APOLLO! APOLLO IS AN OFFSHORE MALE BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN WEIGHING OVER 200 LBS. AND ESTIMATED TO BE TWO YEARS OF AGE. HE STRANDED ON THE BEACH OF PLAYALINDA, FLORIDA IN MAY OF 2021 AND WAS DEEMED NON-RELEASABLE BY NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE DUE TO ATYPICAL HEARING LOSS FOR HIS AGE WHICH COMPROMISED HIS ABILITY TO ECHOLOCATE.ANIMAL CARE CONTINUES THEIR RESEARCH COLLABORATION EFFORTS WITH ECKERD COLLEGE ON TWO PROJECTS WITH THIS UNIQUE SPECIES. BOTH PROJECTS ARE DESIGNED TO ENHANCE AND BROADEN THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHIN PREFERENCES TO ENRICHMENT, DIET AND COLOR STIMULUS PERCEPTION.RESCUEOUR RESCUE TEAM HAS BEEN BUSY WRITING FOR AND EXECUTING GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS. IN 2021, OUR TEAM COMPLETED A CETACEAN PRESCOTT PROJECT FOR A LARGER MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE VEHICLE. THIS AWARD ALLOWED OUR TEAM TO RETROFIT A MARINE MAMMAL TRANSPORT VEHICLE WHICH MEETS INDUSTRY AND SAFETY STANDARDS ENSURING SAFE TRAVELLING FOR HUMANS AND ANIMALS WHO NEED ASSISTANCE. FURTHERMORE, CMA RESCUE TEAM WROTE FOR AND WERE SUBSEQUENTLY AWARDED GRANT FUNDS FOR TWO ADDITIONAL PROJECTS TO INCLUDE PRODUCTION OF A TRAINING PLATFORM FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO BE USED WITHIN THE NETWORK IN EFFORTS TO STREAMLINE INTERACTIONS DURING STRANDING RESPONSES AS WELL AS FUNDING FOR A WATER STORAGE SYSTEM AT OUR FRED HOWARD PARK MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE STATION. FINALLY, OUR TEAM WAS SUCCESSFUL PROCURING FUNDING TO OFFSET THE COSTS OF CETACEAN REHABILITATION EFFORTS UP TO $10,000!IN THE FIELD, THE TEAM IS BUSY ASSISTING WITH MANATEE WORK THROUGH OBSERVATIONS, CAPTURE, RESTRAINT, AND DISPOSITION EFFORTS. CETACEAN EFFORTS IN INCLUDE MONITORING OF DOLPHINS WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY HUMANS. ONE CASE IN PARTICULAR WARRANTED A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH THE SOUTH EAST STRANDING NETWORK TEAM TO SUCCESSFULLY DISENTANGLE A BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN CALF WITH A LIFE THREATENING MONOFILAMENT LINE ENTANGLEMENT WHICH DRAMATICALLY CUT INTO THE DORSAL FIN AND WAS WRAPPED AROUND THE TAIL STOCK. RESCUE ALSO ASSISTS WITH SEA TURTLE TRANSPORT, MEETING UP WITH PATRONS WHO FIND SICK AND INJURED SEA TURTLES AND BRING THESE ANIMALS TO CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM FOR CARE AND REHABILITATION.SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION PROGRAMTHE SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION PROGRAM CONTINUES TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITH EFFORTS TO CONSERVE OUR NESTING SEA TURTLES WHO CALL OUR FLORIDA BEACHES HOME. THIS SEASON, CMA PARTNERED WITH FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON A RESEARCH PROJECT THAT HELPED TO QUANTIFY HATCHLING ORIENTATION. OUR BIGGEST THREAT TO THESE ANIMALS AT THIS TIME IS DUE TO THE ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING VISIBLE FROM THE BEACH AT NIGHT DURING THE NESTING SEASON. THIS RESEARCH HAS GIVEN US QUANTIFIABLE EVIDENCE THAT WE CAN USE TO DEMONSTRATE THE CHALLENGES WITH ARTIFICIAL LIGHT, AND PROMOTE A PLATFORM FOR FURTHER EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND CHANGE TO CONSERVE THE SPECIES.

INSPIRATION:THROUGH SHARING WINTER'S TRANSFORMATIVE STORY IN THE HIT MOVIES DOLPHIN TALE AND DOLPHIN TALE 2, THIS INSPIRATIONAL STORY HAS CONTINUED TO INVOKE PASSION IN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE. APART FROM CAPTURING HEARTS ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE IMPACT WINTER HAS HAD RUNS ESPECIALLY CLOSE TO THE COMMUNITY FACING MEDICAL CHALLENGES AND WOUNDED MILITARY PERSONNEL. CMA DONATES GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS TO THESE FAMILIES ALONG WITH A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS FROM SPECIALIZED DOLPHIN INTERACTIONS TO BOAT TOURS AND PERSONAL TOURS OF CMA. THE CMA INSPIRATION PROGRAM HOSTS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES BATTLING A WIDE VARIETY OF DIFFICULT ILLNESSES, LIMB DIFFERENCES AND MUCH MORE. THESE FREE PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED TO INSPIRE AND BRING LIFE CHANGE TO THE PARTICIPANTS, OF WHICH CMA HAS HOSTED MANY THOUSANDS OVER THE YEARS. THROUGH OUR EVER-EXPANDING SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIENCE AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH WISH-GRANTING ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, HOSPITALS AND MILITARY PARTNERS, CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM CONTINUES TO PROVIDE LASTING INSPIRATIONAL EXPERIENCES TO THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN AFFLICTED BY INJURY OR SICKNESS WE'RE PROUD TO PROVIDE A SPACE FOR FAMILIES BATTLING HARD TIMES TO ENJOY THE INSPIRATION OF WINTER'S STORY IN A CALM, SAFE, AND WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT. SINCE WINTER'S PASSING, WE CONTINUE TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY AND ARE EXPANDING TO ALLOW OUR GUESTS CONNECT AND RELATE TO OUR OTHER ANIMALS' STORIES. WE ARE REACHING OUT TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT SERVE THESE POPULATIONS. WE ALSO AIM TO INSPIRE OUR NEXT GENERATION OF MARINE BIOLOGISTS BY GIVING THEM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCES WITH OUR RESCUED MARINE LIFE.