Posted - 07-05-2008
The 'tail' of the Bionic Dolphin.

Winter the 2 month old Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin was found floating in distress off the coast of Florida, where experts believe the poor creature had lost her own tail in a harsh crab trap. Rescuers rushed her to theClearwater Marine Aquarium where they battled to save her life. The Director, David Yates said of the unfortunate Dolphin"We really didn't think she would make it, she has had 24 hour care by our staff, we literally watched her every second of the day" . Winter survived but she lost her own tail and ended up with just a stump. The Dolphin had to learn to swim all over again, it was unclear if she could achieve this as no dolphin in captivity has ever mastered the art. She tried hard but was only able to swish up and down and experts were concerned for the long term health of her spine. Kevin Carroll, one of the worlds leading experts in prosthetics offered his services. Besides his work on lost limbs for people he has designed prothestics for dogs , an ostrich, and even a duck. Now that really is quackers!  This geniunely kind  man took one look at Winters tailess plight and was moved to design her a "little tail, no big deal". However the process took over a year and was fraught with design issues surrounding the unique way a dolphins tail moves. LosersWeepers is happy to report  this is one fishy tail with a splendid end as Winter the plucky dolphin is now splashing about happily in a normal dolphin style. Fipper would be proud!