The blue carpet was laid out at the Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater,
Florida, on September 10 for that city’s premiere showing
of Dolphin Tale 2. Various cast and crew members were in
attendance including Nathan Gamble (Sawyer Nelson), Cozi
Zuehlsdorff (Hazel Haskett), Austin Stowell (Kyle Connellan),
Betsy Landin (Kat the dolphin trainer), and dolphin mascots
Winter and Hope. Also walking the blue carpet were Dan
Strzempka, CPO, a practitioner with Hanger Clinic’s Sarasota,
Florida, patient care facility, and Kevin Carroll, CP, vice president
of prosthetics, Hanger Clinic, Austin, Texas.
Photographs by Laura Fonda Hochnadel
The two practitioners have gained a following for the prosthetic
tail (now in about its 18th iteration) and specially formulated
gel prosthetic sock they developed for Winter the
bottlenose dolphin who first made headlines in December
2005 when she was found off the coastal waters of Florida. She
was ensnared in the rope of a crab trap and was brought to the
Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) for rehabilitation. The
rope cut off circulation to her lower tail and fluke, which she
subsequently lost. Winter’s real-life saga was introduced on the
big screen in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale.
Prior to the showing of Dolphin Tale 2, the colors were presented by the Amputee Veterans of America Support Team (AVAST) Color Guard, billed as the only amputee color guard in the United States. That was followed by country music star and Tampa Bay, Florida-area native Carolyn Kole, who performed for the full house. Kole sang “Winter,” a song she wrote after first reading about the dolphin’s story. Her rendition of Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” also got the audience singing and clapping along.
At left: Pedro Pimenta, who has quadruple amputations, accompanied Carroll to the premiere. Middle and right: Winter and Hope made their appearances on the blue carpet.
The Dolphin Tale 2 story line picks up several years later, and also is inspired by true events. When the movie opens, Winter had been paired with another bottlenose dolphin who, shortly into the film, succumbs to old age. Due to her companion’s death, Winter suffers from depression and refuses to wear her prosthetic tail. By refusing to wear the prosthetic tail, Winter’s accommodative, side-to-side swim style is causing her spine to curve even more. The worsening scoliosis is not only worsening her health, but so is the depression. (In reality, according to Mike Atwell, CMA’s former marketing director, Winter does not wear the prosthetic tail full time. Rather, because Winter learned to swim without her tail, it caused her dorsal muscles to build disproportionately to her remaining tail, which caused the scoliosis. The prosthetic tail is used for rehabilitative measures and she wears it about three times per day.) Under threat of Winter being relocated to another facility by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-due to their social natures, dolphins are required to be paired-CMA comes under pressure to find another poolmate for Winter or risk the loss of a treasured animal and possibly face serious financial ramifications with the loss of a featured draw to the aquarium.
At left: Strzempka Middle: CMA has experienced a substantial increase in visitors since the first Dolphin Tale movie, and guests have the opportunity to meet Winter. At right: Zuehlsdorff reprises her role of Hazel Haskett, the daughter of the (fictional) CMA veterinarian and director, played by Harry Connick Jr.
However, finding another companion is not that easy. CMA
practices rescue, rehabilitation, and release, so a suitable
replacement must, first of all, be another female dolphin and,
second, must be unable to survive in the wild, meaning it will
become a permanent CMA resident like Winter.
Dolphin Tale 2 is about friendship, resilience, and hope. In
this case, the embodiment of hope comes in the form of another
dolphin that eventually is rescued and found to be compatible
with Winter, and aptly named Hope. The movie opened to
audiences across the country on September 12.
At left: Nicholas the dolphin played the role of Mandy in the film. Middle: Country singer Kole. At right: The AVAST Color Guard presents the colors.
