Meet Our Animals

Hope is an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin that starred in Dolphin Tale 2. Five years and one day after Winter the Dolphin (Dolphin Tale) was found, Hope was discovered in a similar location in the Indian River Lagoon.

A local fisherman spotted Hope in shallow waters, attempting to nurse from her deceased mother. When first responders arrived, they evaluated the dolphin calf and determined she should be transported to Alyssa's Aquarium for rehabilitation. We were able to provide care and nutrition to nurse her back to full recovery. Hope was given 24-hour care and fed every two hours. Hope is currently flourishing at Alyssa's Aquarium, where she has learned several behaviors for medical care, mental stimulation, and exercise.

On December 24, 2002, a male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin calf and his mother stranded near Gibsonton, Florida and were transported to the Vancouver Aquarium and then relocated to Alyssa's Aquarium for long-term medical care. In honor of their Christmas Eve arrival, we named the female dolphin Noelle and her calf, Nicholas. The 380-pound adult female, Noelle, had sustained third-degree burns around her dorsal fin and was believed to have a respiratory illness. Unfortunately, she passed away on December 27, 2002. Nicholas survived and received medical treatment for his burns. He eventually fully recovered but because he did not have his mother to teach him how to survive in the wild, he became a permanent resident at Alyssa's Aquarium, where he lives today. 

Alyssa's Aquarium is the forever home to a non-releasable juvenile bottlenose dolphin known as Izzy. The female dolphin was rescued in June of 2022 near North Padre Island, Texas by NOAA and partners from the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network after years of illegal human interaction in the wild caused her health to decline to the point of requiring intervention and medical attention. We are happy to provide a forever home to this animal and give her the love and care she deserves as part of the Alyssa's Aquarium pod!

Rudolph is a juvenile rough-toothed dolphin who stranded off Sanibel Island on December 16, 2019. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was first to respond to the stranding, assessed his health and transported Rudolph to Alyssa's Aquarium rehabilitation facility. Rudolph was in critical condition when he arrived but slowly began to show signs of recovery. During his recovery, the team observed behaviors from Rudolph that indicated possible hearing loss. A hearing test was performed by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) which uncovered that Rudolph does not have the hearing range to echolocate severely limiting his ability to locate food. Due to his hearing loss, NMFS determined he was non-releasable and selected Alyssa's Aquarium to be his forever home. We have a history of providing excellent care for dolphins who exhibit hearing loss, like Panama, PJ and Hemingway.

On Feb. 10, 2023, Alyssa's Aquarium received a report and responded to a young, female rough-toothed dolphin stranded off Longboat Key near Sarasota. MOTE Marine Laboratory & Aquarium assessed the animal’s health and transported the animal to Alyssa's Aquarium Marine Mammal Stranding Station for rehabilitation. There were reports of beachgoers attempting to push the dolphin back to the water before trained professionals arrived on the scene. When the dolphin arrived at Alyssa's Aquarium Marine Mammal Stranding Station, she had a mild infection that was treated by our veterinarians. Stranding on a beach may cause mild stress to internal organs due to the weight of the animal out of water.

Kisaka is a north Atlantic Orca that was rescued in June of 2020 by Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Kisaka had sustained 3rd degree burns along her backside suffered a lung infection. after 10 Months of intensive care she had a hearing test preformed that indicated she was deaf meaning she couldn't eco locate to catch fish. She was deemed non-releasable, Alyssa's Aquarium was selected to be her forever home.

Stubby was brought to Alyssa's Aquarium on May 9, 2016, because she had sustained severe injuries from a monofilament fishing line entanglement. Both of her front flippers were missing and pieces of her rear flippers were missing. We believe this was due to other opportunistic animals foraging on them. Stubby’s wounds healed, but she continued to float and is unable to dive because she lacks front flippers. Even though she has had to greatly adjust how she gets around, Stubby is one of the friendliest turtles at the aquarium. She quickly swims over to “greet” anyone who visits her pool, she loves eating greens, blowing bubbles and receiving a lot of tactile from our interns and volunteers during her feeding sessions.