“I was amazed at her spirit and the way she refused to give up. We saw her fighting for her life, and very gradually, day by day, she got better over a number of months. "But we’re an animal hospital so we wanted to give her a chance. "We are overseen by a government agency, and the agency and a number of other veterinarians around the country advised us to euthanise her. “At that point we assumed she had no chance of survival, " says Yates. Eventually she lost her tail flukes and two of her vertebrae. She was put in a small medical pool, about 20 ft wide and 4 ft deep, and over the next few weeks as she swam the skin came off in bits and pieces. When Winter was first brought to the CMA, her tail was severely damaged. “She really should have died many times, and we were advised to euthanise her, but she just kept finding new ways to overcome her difficulties.” When he was made aware of Winter and her struggle, Yates was inspired. Winter the dolphin – survival against all odds The trap had cut off the blood supply to her tail, and she was in a serious condition, young, alone, critically injured and stressed by having to adapt to captivity. She was found by a small fishing boat, and first taken to the local Marine Discovery Centre and then transferred to Clearwater. Winter had been found in Mosquito Bay, in the coastal waters of Florida, caught in the ropes of a crab trap in December 2005 – hence her name. “I started here in early 2006, which is exactly the time that Winter the Dolphin was rescued. Yates had no idea that when he joined Clearwater Aquarium, that Winter the dolphin was there fighting for her life. “But, I had to go out and quickly tell the story so more people would come and see us, and would want to donate.” I saw the work we did, and knew people would love the it. “I had to find something to tell our story. I knew if I didn’t change things quickly, within three or four months it would close down. It was a risk: “…if I could not get it up and running again, it certainly wouldn’t help my career. "I thought, my kids like it here it’s very small and kind of run down, but it has a kind of homey feel, and I thought I’d do something nice for the community, maybe do a turnaround and spend a year here, then pass it on to somebody else.” "My second boy, Chris, a keen animal lover, heard about the possible job and he said, ‘Dad, you’d better take that, or I’ll kick your butt.’ I had left Iron Man in ’98, and I was now asked by the Board of Clearwater Marine Aquarium to do a turnaround, because it had got into very serious trouble, and was ready to close down. “We had brought our kids over the years to Clearwater Marine Aquarium to visit, back before it took off, in the early days, and so we were familiar with it. “I fell in love with marine life and the environment, and spent a lot of time out on the waters, " says Yates. Ironman events take place all over the world, often in the most exotic of locations: Hawaii, the Canary Islands, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, to name a few: beautiful places with a rich variety of marine life. He joined as Vice President in 1989, then became CEO for around a decade. There was no money, the donors had left, attendance was down and falling still further, and the building was falling apart.ĭavid Yates (pictured left) spoke to Blooloop about how he took on the aquarium at its lowest point and, with the help of a dolphin called Winter, turned it into a global success story.ĭavid Yates had been working as a certified public accountant for two or three years when he was approached to work for the Ironman Triathlon Company. In 2005, when David Yates took over as CEO, the aquarium was failing in every aspect. Now a thriving global organisation where attendance is predicted to top 800, 000 this year, the CMA has come a long way in ten years. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA), which opened in 1972 on Clearwater Beach in Florida, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of sick and injured marine animals, as well as research, education and animal-assisted therapy.
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