Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home to the Dolphin Tale stars Winter and Hope, has a new resident dolphin! Selected by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to be the forever home, the new male dolphin is a companion for CMA rescued resident Nicholas, another male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin.
CMA asked the public for its help in naming the dolphin. Within a week, CMA received 12,000 name submissions! The Animal Care team selected their top two favorite names for the new resident. However, to make the final pick, CMA asked for the help of Nicholas. Nick is known for accurately predicting the winners in sports matches. In fact, he has accurately predicted 9 out of 16 sports match-ups – most recently predicting the Kansas City Chiefs to win the 2020 Super Bowl.
How it worked: Nicholas was presented with the two final names, Finn and Hemingway, written on volleyballs. Ultimately, he made the final selection by picking the volleyball with ‘Hemingway’ written on the ball! CMA invited the public to view Nick’s Pick via Facebook Live.
Watch the selection here!