Jake Young is a 
Scientists in FL are trying to make a prosthetic tail for a dolphin, Winter, who lost hers after getting tangled in a fishing line:
Winter learned how to swim without her tail, amazing her handlers with a combination of moves that resemble an alligator's undulations and a shark's side-to-side tail swipes. She uses her flippers, normally employed for steering and braking, to get moving.Winter can't keep up with wild dolphins that can swim up to 25 mph with strokes of their tail flukes. She will be a permanent resident at the aquarium, even if she gets a prosthetic tail.
In the tank, she swims and plays with another dolphin, rolling and diving and surfacing to demand belly rubs and fish from her caretakers.
Zucker has formed a team to discuss the prospects of designing a tail for Winter. It has been consulting with a diving gear manufacturer, a tire company and the Navy, which has experience attaching items to dolphins for military research.
It's uncharted territory. Fuji, an elderly dolphin who lives at an aquarium in Okinawa, Japan, had part of his tail remaining on which to attach a prosthesis.
Winter doesn't. Both her tail flukes and peduncle, a wrist-like joint that allows a dolphin's tail to move up and down, were lost to necrosis. It is not clear how the prosthetic tail would be attached to her stump, but it would need to be tough.
Crazy town. We should have more programs in animal prosthetics -- because animal disability is no laughing matter.
Comments
Jake,
Thanks for your post regarding Winter the Dolphin. The support for her and the Clearwater Aquarium is really starting to "snowball". There are hotels and resorts in the Clearwater area that have joined the effort for fundraising by celebrating her one year birthday. You walk up to the front desk and say "Winter sent me" and the participating Hotel or Resort then contributes to Clearwaters efforts. Our company, Whale Tails Tortilla Chips, is also joining the effort. We are working with Dana Zucker to provide funding through the sale of our organic tortilla chips that are uniquely shaped like a Whale's Tail. Our Southern California company was started to provide funding for marine conservation. One of our customers told us about Winter and once we talked to Dana at Clearwater Aquarium and Stephen McCulloch at Harbor Branch Oceanographic we were in.
An Ocean of Thanks for your post and best fishes for the Holiday Season....
Ric
Posted by: ric | December 5, 2006 12:31 PM