The story of Winter, the dolphin who lost her tail in a run-in with a buoy line in a crab trap really touched me.
Apparently she was tangled in this line and when she tried to get away it tightened around her tail. The blood flow was cut off from the flukes causing her tail to eventually fall off.
I first read about this dolphin and the work being done to create a prosthetic tail for her when I was on the road recently. I haven’t been to see her (I’m not even sure public is allowed to) but she resides just a couple miles from The Magic Zoo headquarters!
There is such affinity for these amazing marine mammals by us humans that it doesn’t surprise me that so much work and expense has gone into creating a prosthetic tail so she can swim somewhat normally again. I’m amazed by the technology used, and grateful that the research that went into its creation will also benefit our brave soldiers who have lost limbs fighting overseas.
There was mention of a “gel sleeve” that is next to her skin to make the attachment of the artificial tail more comfortable. The article I read said that this sleeve has had applications for human amputees.
I loved the description of how she learned to swim minus her powerful flukes. One person said it was somewhat like the undulations of an alligator or the side to side motion of a shark. What a survivor this little dolphin is!
It seems it’s not so simple as just attaching the artificial flukes and letting her take off. There is training for her to use the prosthetic, especially since she has developed her own way of swimming minus her tail. But I would imagine that the buoyancy of her natural environment would make her “rehab” a lot easier.
And the fact that she isn’t full grown is going to require several different prosthetic flukes, each progressively larger.
I love the fact that humans and animals are on this planet surviving together, and a story like this one really is a strong reminder of that for me.
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