Clearwater Marine Aquarium
With their continuous rescue operations, CMA attempts to preserve and protect the sea life. At the same time, the people at CMA strive to reach out to the general public and share the importance of preserving sea life and environment. CMA staff members believe that every individual can do something within their reach to avoid harming the environment, specifically marine life. With various exhibits and shows, CMA gives visitors hands-on experience and valuable knowledge they can take away.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is not an establishment where marine animals are kept solely for display and education purposes. When you visit, the people at Clearwater Marine Aquarium make it a point to make you a part of their family. With unique stories to tell and beautiful creatures to bond with, this place leaves you overwhelmed with the tales of nature.
Located just east of Clearwater Beach, on Island Estates, CMA is largely a non-profit institution devoted to the "Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release" of sea animals. Their main goal is to protect, preserve and restore marine life while educating the common population about its importance. With several exhibits and educational opportunities, children and adults leave this place a little more informed and responsible about their natural surroundings and environment.
Turtles, like Stubby and Molly, live here to teach you all. Their exhibits can help you learn about their plight and the status of their recovery. Stubby lost both flippers due to entanglement in a fishing line while Molly also faced damages to her flippers due to a shark attack - accidents speaking both of natural as well as man-made reasons. There are three exhibit areas with different kind of pools prepared for the varied needs of the aquarium's turtle residents. Turtle Bayou, for instance, mimics a natural environment setting with artificial rocks and coral formations.
Clearwater Marina Aquarium also has a famous personality living with them. One of their resident dolphins has gone out to the world and featured in NBC's Today Show, CNN and BBC as well as Tampa Bay area television stations. Winter, a much-loved dolphin, lost all of her tail and two vertebrae as a result of entanglement in a crab trap line when she was only three-months old. As experts claim, she has shown great strength and recovery and is "almost" set for her prosthetics. Winter's story has affected many of CMA's visitors. The staff and volunteer at the aquarium will tell her story to every new person with the same enthusiasm as if they were telling it for the very first time.
CMA also offers you the experience of witnessing dolphins finding their way in and out of the water while splashing the audiences in the Dolphin Shows. At Stingray Beach, you can touch and feed Stingrays. There are otters, sharks and large ocean fish to see as well. There is a presentation every half hour allowing you sometime to ask questions from aquarium's ever-ready staff members before departing to another presentation.
If you are an ardent dolphin lover, you can also choose to get more up-close and personal with these creatures by selecting from aquarium's various animal interaction programs. If the shows have intrigued you enough, a Behind the Scenes Tour awaits you for even more learning and adventure. With some extra fees, you can get access to animal food preparation area, surgical suite, veterinary lab, and some animal rehabilitation areas. A two-hour Sea Life Safari trip is another of CMA's offering where people aboard are taken to the high seas to look for dolphins, sea birds and other marine life.
With a team of professionals working around the clock to respond immediately to any emergencies, CMA, unlike any other aquarium in the area, is largely a marine rehabilitation center. Not as flashy and expansive as The Florida Aquarium in Tampa Bay, CMA is still a crowd-drawer because of the humane aspect attached to it. Florida Aquarium offers great experiences, educational as well as adventurous, with the marine life. However, you might not find their staff members treating rescued dolphins or turtles openly.
Only a few minutes away from Downtown Sarasota, the Mote Marine Laboratory has even larger range of marine life than the Florida Aquarium. Like Clearwater Aquarium, Mote Aquarium supports marine research, although on a much larger scale, and outreaches general public with science of the sea.
Over the years, Clearwater Marine Aquarium has been giving back to the community, human and marine, with its rescue mission and educational outreach.
249 Windward Passage
Clearwater, Florida 33767
(727) 447-0980
http://www.cmaquarium.org
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