Winter's Tail

Prosthetists are creating a new tail for an injured young dolphin

By Andrea Kerr

People simply love dolphins. They plan their vacations around spending time with the marine animals, and pay good amounts of money to swim with them, feed them, touch them or just look at them.

So it's not surprising that when a baby dolphin lost her tail and nearly her life after being ensnared in a crab trap, her story and amazing recovery went global.

Winter, a 20-month-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, was stranded near Cape Canaveral in December 2005 after being caught in a crab trap. Her tail fluke eventually came off, as it was severely damaged by the trap's rope entanglement.

After being transferred to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a facility dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of animals, Winter received round-the-clock medical attention in an effort to save her life. Winter survived, and began adapting to a less efficient–and potentially damaging–side-to-side swimming style, as there was no tail fluke to give her thrust.

Not only has she attracted extensive media attention, including a stint on the Today show, but her plight has spurred several experts to facilitate the development of a prosthetic tail for the well-known dolphin.

Hanger Orthopedic Group's vice president of prosthetics, Kevin Carroll, CP, FAAOP, was chosen from a select pool of international prosthetics experts to lead a team to develop and fit a new prosthetic tail.

An American Board Certified prosthetist, Carroll brings nearly 30 years' experience as a practicing clinician, researcher and educator. Carroll is the co-developer of the patented Hanger ComfortFlex Socket System, which has become a standard in socket design today.

"I am honored to be selected by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for this unique patient case," Carroll said after being chosen for the assignment. "Winter is an amazing animal with an inspirational story of overcoming adversity. Her story echoes the spirit and endurance of so many of our patients."

A Unique Inspiration

Winter's story is inspirational, but it is also unique. She will be the first dolphin whose entire tail will be a prosthetic device.

"There was a dolphin in Japan named Fuji who lost part of her tail fluke," explains David Yates, CEO of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter resides and performs her therapy. "But Winter's situation is entirely different because she has absolutely no tail at all. What they were able to do with Fuji was to build a tail that fastens around what was remaining of her tail fluke. When we showed Winter to the people at Bridgestone, who created Fuji's tail, they said, 'We can't help you. We don't know how to do this.' This is brand-new territory and we needed a brand-new product for Winter."

In addition to Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc, who is paying the full cost of the research, the consortium will be advised by Mike Walsh, DVM, former lead veterinarian at SeaWorld; Steve McColluch, director of dolphin research and conservation at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, FL; and Juli D. Goldstein, DVM, a marine mammal specialist.

"We started off looking for flexibility and a way to mimic the flexing and extending action of the tail," says Carroll. He explained that Winter's lack of a tail leaves her with no balance and can lead to the development of a hump on her back. "Then you look at the entire residual part of her body that also flexes up and down and in and out in a lateral movement of her body."

Kids Will Be Kids

Carroll says the approach Winter's trainer uses is extremely similar to how OTs work with young prosthetic patients.

"We've found that when working with animals, it's important to work on their schedules, not ours," explains Carroll. "It's important to introduce the prosthetic to her slowly and not force it on her. Otherwise, she'll reject it and it can take up to six months for her to accept the prosthetic again."

Patience is the name of the game when dealing with a 20-month-old dolphin who prefers to play rather than work during her therapy sessions. To obtain desired results, both the trainer and the therapist have learned to work creatively with Winter. For her participation, Winter is rewarded with her favorite treat—fish.

"The thing we've learned with Winter is that you can't rush her," explains Carroll, who says the marine mammal has undergone hundreds of therapy sessions. "That's similar to how you don't want to rush the amputee population."

"When you deal with marine animals you have to be careful that you don't change too many of their nuances," says Yates, who adds that Winter has adapted extremely well to her disability. "If you throw too much at once at any of the dolphins, they regress. We've been wrapping the exact material that the sleeve will be made of around Winter's tail to get her used to material and to get used to having something on her at all."

Since Winter lives in salt water, the team needed to create a device that could withstand the elements. As a result, the prosthetic is made of carbon composite materials that are elastic in nature, including plastic and silicone.

Just five months ago, Carroll and Winter's trainers began the gradual process of introducing her to the prosthesis. Slowly, the team let her see the material first, then laid it on her and eventually they informally wrapped it on her.

It wasn't long before Carroll learned one difference between working with children and dolphin patients when introducing a prosthetic.

"To get used to a prosthesis, therapists often let children take them home to play with," explains Carroll. "That was my initial suggestion with Winter, but the trainer said, 'No, you don't want her to play with it. It's not a plaything. This is serious business.'"

Winter sometimes gives her trainers attitude when the prosthetic interface is placed on her body. How the trainer responds to her actions is another difference between working with animals and children.

"Sometimes when we put the interface on Winter, she flicks it off," says Carroll. "She does go and get it, which is nice of her since it goes right to the bottom of the pool. We might reward a child with candy for bringing it back, but we don't reward Winter. If she keeps the prosthetic on, then we reward her with fish. She's really learned the importance of coming to her trainer."

Why Bother?

With so much time and money spent working with Winter, Carroll understands that some people may question the relevance of outfitting a dolphin with a prosthetic tail.

"A lot of people ask, 'Why even bother to do this?'" admits Carroll. "But Winter will be around for the next 40 years, so we want her to have a higher quality of life."

Yates and his team at Clearwater Marine Aquarium see the big picture in the experts' work with Winter.

"They believe the research that we're doing on Winter will have implications on the research and technology used in the human marketplace," says Yates, who happily describes how their resident celebrity has already inspired one young patient.

"There is an 18-year-old girl from Orlando who lost both of her legs below the knee," explains Yates. "She didn't want to put the prosthetics on at all, but Kevin used Winter's story to encourage her. It worked, and today we're told she's walking with them.

"Winter's story is so inspirational to people, and we believe her story will encourage others in this way. Plus, Winter deserves this chance to live a normal life."

For more information:

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: www.seewinter.com

Andrea Kerr is a freelance writer from Douglassville, PA.