The Bay area's most popular dolphin has a new roommate and they’ve become fast friends.
Winter, the dolphin without a tail, was made famous by the silver screen in Winter’s Tale.
“We rescued a dolphin named Hope about two years ago who is now completely rehabilitated, healthy and ready to go. And we are paring Winter and Hope today for the first time. They are likely to be together for 30 to 35 years,” said David Yates, Clearwater Aquarium CEO.
Dolphins are such social animals when they're paired with another dolphin- they live much longer. And talk about similarities.
“Hope was literally rescued the night we wrapped filming of the Dolphin Tale, so the timing was hard to believe but the similarities between Hope’s rescue and Winter’s rescue are very similar also,” he said. “Same part of Florida, same people brought here five years ago and one day from Winters’ so the similarities are almost hard to believe.”
Winter and Hope acted like they'd been friends for years, something animals can't fake.
“The beauty of these dolphins is that they really like each other,” Yates said. “You never know what you are going to get when you pair two dolphins. They have big personalities. They are very young. They love each other.”
And, could there be a sequel in the making?
“A sequel is always a possibility but it's a long way off at this point,” said Yates.