2 Dolphins, 1 girl, 1 connection by love: The story continues!

My first blog told about my application to a contest to be “Trainer for a Day” with Hope, the dolphin star of “Dolphin Tale 2”, which told the true-life story of this dolphin, at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA).  The contest finally ended, and the results were in. Sadly, I didn’t win. I was really disappointed, but I knew it was a longshot in the first place, so I wasn’t going to just sit around and pout. Instead, I was proud that I had finally been brave enough to share my story.  More than that, it made me proud of who I am. However, that wasn’t the end of my contact from CMA. 

I was spending that week with my grandparents going to zoo camp at the Hattiesburg Zoo in Mississippi. I was in the car with my granddad on my way home from camp and was looking at my emails via my phone. That’s when I noticed an email from someone I didn’t recognize. I am usually very skeptical of emails from those whom I don’t know, but I decided to take a closer look because the email said Winter in it. A few seconds later, I was in shock! As I read the email, I concluded that they were inviting me for special interaction with WINTER! I couldn’t believe it, what was happening? My grandfather was probably wondering what was going on in the back seat because I was squeaking and screaming in a way that he couldn’t even understand me. 

Once we got to their house, I told everyone the unbelievable news. How anyone understood me, I have no idea. Let me tell you, I was ecstatic! (I should probably explain here that I have a challenge with speech, and it is more difficult to understand me when I’m very excited. I can assure you that I was very excited at this moment!) I woke up my Aunt Missie with all the screaming, so she was the next one who found out. I called my mom, who was on a work-trip in England. I literally couldn’t calm down, and she was excited too (I think she might have screamed on her end of the phone). I then called my dad and he was excited, too. We had to figure out when to go for the interaction. We finally settled on my birthday weekend. Cue the flight to Tampa on November 8^th. 

November 9^th, 2014 was my 14^th birthday! This was our fourth visit to CMA, but this time was my favorite, since it was on MY BIRTHDAY and I was having an interaction with WINTER the next day! Something about visiting your favorite place on your birthday makes it even more magical. This was a pre-view visit, since the interaction was the next day. After entering the aquarium, I went to Winter’s area to see the girls. This time, Winter really noticed me. In fact, many times we were actually looking at each other in the eyes. I even talked to her, and she still looked at me in the eyes. Did she know what was coming? 

After visiting Winter, my family and 2 friends/family (The Clappers) went on a dolphin cruise with 2 people from the aquarium. Within the first minute of the cruise, we saw a dolphin gracefully leap out of the water. Literally 1 second after that dolphin landed, ANOTHER dolphin did a leap while spinning, and then another! This just kept happening.  We were in constant awe as we had only seen their dorsal fins before. The aquarium people were also amazed, as they’d never seen so many dolphins that active. We all joked that the dolphins knew it was my birthday so they were putting on a special show for me.

We then had a birthday party at the hotel with a cookie cake with four dolphins on it – one for each of the dolphins at CMA. One even had the tail burned off to look like Winter. The cake was delicious, and the memories were amazing. After the cake, I went to sleep, as I wanted to have plenty of rest, for the day tomorrow!   

November 10^th brought a TON of excitement, as it was THE DAY I had been anticipating for four months.  Now it was actually here! How I slept the night before, I have no idea. After we arrived at the aquarium, we met my two hosts for the day and had a short tour. Then, I met the dolphin trainer that was working with them, Cammie.  Cammie then surprised me by asking, “Are you OK doing it with Hope, too?”  Of course, I was more than OK with that! Two dolphin stars are even better than one!  Cammie gave me some safety tips and a quick summary of what we would be doing.  

Then it happened – the big moment. I was on the platform with Cammie, and Hope swam right past us while checking me out. Winter and Hope were RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! I still don’t know how I stayed calm. We took a few introductory pictures, and Cammie could tell that I knew the commands that they used with the dolphins (I watch a lot of dolphin interaction videos on You Tube).  I got to do waves, spins, bows, kisses, etc. with both Hope and Winter.  It was amazing! After meeting them together, it was time for some one-on-one moments. Winter was first, I got to feel her stump and got to kiss it! Hope was next.  Cammie let me feel her tail flukes, and told me a lot about her.

I then had some more time with Winter.  I tickled her, and her pectoral flippers wiggled as I tickled. Every time she completed a requested behavior, I tossed her a fish right into her mouth. I got to put my hand under her rostrum and give her a belly rub. When I leaned over to give Winter a kiss, Cammie had to almost catch me because I almost fell in. Then, Cammie got out Hope’s favorite toy.  It’s a giant water cannon that she LOVES to have squirted into her mouth.  You ready, Hope? 

My time alone with the dolphins ended when they did the buddy swim.  This is when they swim together like they are holding flippers. This is what they did when they accepted each other (in the movie), and it is featured in Dolphin Tale 2. After another wave and picture, the interaction was complete.   When we were almost done, they let my little sister, Molly, come out onto the platform and feed both dolphins and take some pictures, too.  That made it extra fun for our family.

Then, I saw a reporter from Florida’s TV news channel, ABC Action News. I remembered seeing a truck with the news on it when we got there. What were they doing at the aquarium?  After I walked off the platform, the reporter walked towards me with a cameraman. My hosts asked me if I would mind being interviewed for the local news.  Mr. Bill Logan asked me a few questions about how Winter has inspired me, and I told him about the surgery that Winter helped me through, and a bunch of other things regarding Winter and me. Cammie was interviewed, too. I couldn’t wait to see how I did on TV and to see the story. It was on Tampa’s Channel 2 action news that night and we got to watch it from our hotel.  That was pretty cool!

After the interaction and the interview, I was feeling a little sad that it was over. I went down to the underwater area just as Winter and Hope were doing the buddy swim. I arrived at a window and just enjoyed watching them.  After a few minutes, Hope came over to the window where I was standing, and I started casually moving my fingers around the glass. Hope put her rostrum on the glass and followed my finger all over the window. People saw this and started trying to do the same thing, but Hope only paid attention to me.  This went on for at least 20 minutes, and I enjoyed every minute of it.    

My mom and I were trying to figure out what it is that makes Hope recognize me this way. We have a theory that the dolphins can recognize me from other people because they use echolocation to “see” instead of just their eyes.  Because I have Aperts Syndrome, my bone structure is different from other people. We think this is why Hope seems to remember me so well.  I went back to CMA each of the next three years, and Hope clearly remembered me and did this same behavior at the underwater window every time.

This unforgettable morning was so special, thanks to my homemade video, an amazing aquarium, 1 trainer, 2 dolphins, family, friends, and never giving up on my dream.    

Next time……Get ready to hear about the Legendary Jack.