The Clearwater Marine Aquarium has acquired a dozen new residents, including bottlenose dolphins, harbor seals, and a nurse shark, from the now-closed Miami Seaquarium.

Expansion and Rehabilitation

The aquarium’s mission is “rescue, rehabilitation, and release,” and the new arrivals fit under this profile, as they need new homes. The animals who call the aquarium home are, for one reason or another, not eligible for release.

Kourtney Laratonda, the aquarium’s Aquatic Biology and Animal Connections Manager, was brought aboard in February to manage the new Animal Connections and Wings & Wildlife exhibits. Laratonda said, “Rescue comes in many different forms. A lot of people think rescue means they’re in distress, or abused, or stranded, and they need help and rehabilitation. Not necessarily. It can come in the form of: They just need a new home.”

The new exhibits are part of a series of expansion goals set down by the aquarium’s board and administrators as early as 2020. The manatee area, now called the Dr. James “Buddy” Powell Manatee Rehabilitation Center, has been fully restored and has already rehabbed and released several endangered marine mammals.

Original reporting: St. Pete Catalyst — read the source article.