Clearwater Marine Aquarium - Rescue, Rehab & Release

Rescue, Rehab & Release

           Latest Release Video                                   Mandy & Troy Release

          (click image to watch video)                                     (click image to watch video)

Skylar's private release video

Soto's release video

Mackenzie's release video

Call us 24/7...Really!....

We are a unique facility, specializing in the rescue, rehabilitation and release of sick or injured marine animals. All the animals that come through our doors arrive because they were suffering from an illness or severe injury in the wild. A majority of our animals were and are found by local residents, fishermen, park rangers, or even visitors to the area. We have a 24-hour emergency stranding line (727-441-1790, ext. 234) to report a marine animal emergency, and a CMA staff member is paged to respond to the emergency no matter what time it is. If an animal needs our assistance in the middle of the night, we will be there.

Once the animal arrives at our hospital, a team of experienced CMA staff biologists, veterinarians and volunteers create a rehabilitation plan for the animal specifically catering to its injury or illness. Sometimes the injuries are so severe, or the animal is so young, that it would not be in the animal’s best interest to release it back into the wild. CMA works with agencies such as National Marine Fisheries and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to make these decisions. If the animal is unable to be released back into the wild, it becomes a permanent member of the CMA family, and lives here to serve as an ambassador for their species to help us promote environmental conservation.

Over the years, CMA has successfully rehabilitated and released numerous marine animals. One of the most important factors to determine if an animal can return to the wild, is if they can display they have maintained their hunting skills.

There have been many successful releases of dolphins, sea turtles and river otters throughout the years. Each animal was cared for individually according to their injuries and given a name, as they have personalities just like we do. Even though it's hard to say goodbye to these amazing animals after a successful rehab, each one of them left their mark on the hearts of all who cared for them and will always be remembered.

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (7)

2006 – Mandy and Troy
(see top of page for video)

2002 - Blondie
Blondie

1997 – Autumn and Harvey
Autumn & Harvey
Autumn had possible become entangled in rope around her pectoral fine. Stranded with her calf Harvey. After six months of rehab, Autumn and Harvey became first mom/calf pair to be successfully rehabilitated and released.

1996 – Rudy
Rudy

1993 – Caesar

Pan-tropical Spotted Dolphins (2)

1999 – Linus and Woodstock

Sperm Whale (1)

2001 - George
George
In 2001, CMA rehabilitated a juvenile sperm whale which we named George (after his stranding location at St. George Island). The animal had suffered from shark attacks. We fed him formula and supported him in the water twenty-four hours a day. George weighed in at 1100 pounds and made slow but steady progress throughout his rehab. Unfortunately, after 43 days of intensive rehabilitation George passed away from infection and gastrointestinal issues. He was and still is the longest living sperm whale in captivity. Biologists and veterinarians across the world were provided with data collected from George to further scientific knowledge of sperm whales.

Sea Turtles

2008 – Loggerhead (2) Green (1)

Chloe - Released on Honeymoon Island May 6th, 2008
(see top of page for video)

Skylar - Released on Clearwater Beach April 8th, 2008
(see top of page for video)

Soto – Stranded on Egmont Key on August 19th, 2006. Sota was caught
in a trawling dredge, and had a stingray barb in her left rear flipper.
Released on Clearwater Beach March 19th, 2008.
(see top of page for video)

2007 – Kemp’s Ridley (1) Green (12) Loggerhead (5)

Brianna
Briana
Brianna – Stranded near St. Lucie Power Plant on May 19th, 2006. She had severe injuries from being hit by a boat. Released August 2nd, 2007 after 15 months of rehabilitation.

2006 – Kemp’s Ridley (1) Green (11) Loggerhead (9) Hawksbill (2)

Oliver
Oliver
Oliver – Disoriented hatchling, raised by CMA staff. Found on Honeymoon Island on September 1st, 2003. After reaching the required size of 43cm carapace length, Oliver was released on April 26th, 2006.

2005 – Kemp’s Ridley (2) Green (2) Loggerhead (7)

2004 – Kemp’s Ridley (2) Green (7) Loggerhead (5) Hawksbill (1)

2003 – Kemp’s Ridley (3) Green (16) Loggerhead (11)

2002 – Kemp’s Ridley (3) Green (1)

North American River Otters (9)

2007 – Taz

2006 – Tonka and Rio
Tonka Rio
Tonka and Rio came to us as orphaned pups in 2006. Although they were found at
different times they were immediately introduced to each other and hand-raised
by CMA staff. Since they were able to grow up together and were consistently
catching and eating live fish after four months of rehab, they were released together
in Pasco County on July 7th, 2006.

2005 – Freeway, Sunny, LC, Mosh

2001 – Blossom and Hulkster
Blossom