Winter the Dolphin - World's First Prosthetic Dolphin Tail

Winter the Dolphin had her tail caught in a crab trap back in 2006 off the coast of Florida. Rescuers got her to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in time to save her life, though she lost her tail.



Fearing for the safety of her spine as she tried to swim without it, the aquarium called upon the services of Kevin Carroll who has designed prosthetics for dogs, ostriches, and ducks. The work was much more complicated than initially thought. Because of the unique way that dolphin tails operates, with the entire tail moving in all directions, it was more than a year and a half to design a working tail.




Now winter is swimming happily. She swims differently than she used to but doesn't seem to care in the least. A lesson for us all.



This story thanks to Katie (love you girl) and to dailymail.co.uk Send me more stories of other amazing animals.

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