Winter's Mom

Drew Harwell: CLEARWATER — Winter the dolphin glided slowly through the water, staring at the woman easing down into the pool.

It was Sunday morning, just after sunrise. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium was still and quiet. Abby Stone carried Winter's breakfast, an iced bucket of fish and a dose of menhaden oil. She knelt and hugged the dolphin's soft gray skin.

"Hi, love," she said. "I see you."

Winter was a baby, 2 months old, when she was rushed to the aquarium. Rescuers had found her bloodied and weak off Florida's east coast, her tail torn to tatters by a crab-trap line. Few expected her to survive the loss of her tail.

Abby Stone, a trainer at the aquarium, was one of the first to hold her. She bottle-fed her goat milk and cradled her in the cold water of her pool. She held her for hours in the dark, afraid she was too weak to swim.