Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Indy

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Age: Six Years Old

Weight: 385 pounds

CMA rescued Indy in May, 2004, from Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. He was in critical condition when found, unable to swim, and had sustained shark and dolphin bites over his entire body. The more serious bite wounds were lacerations on his peduncle and a severed fluke. Indy’s wounds were treated aggressively on a daily basis and healed completely over the course of several months.

Indy’s ability to survive on his own in the wild came into question since past releases of juveniles had low success rates (compared to adults). The primary concern was whether Indy would be able to Indy playing with hulahoop sustain his weight in the wild since he had stranded significantly underweight and refused to eat live fish in captivity (even despite 24-hour fasting). Additionally, a young juvenile such as Indy would still be dependent on his mother for the next three to four years in order to acquire life skills, which he obviously lacks based on his overall condition when he stranded. Finally it was decided Indy would become a permanent CMA resident.

Indy currently weighs 385 pounds and will continue to grow over the next ten years to reach full size. He eats on average 16 pounds of fish per day and loves to vocalize and learn new behaviors. He has also been introduced to Panama and Nicholas, two other bottlenose dolphins here at CMA.