Dolphin Tale 2 is the continuing story of Winter the dolphin, who lives at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Winter has no tail, and instead she has a prosthetic after her tail had to be amputated (this was all covered in Dolphin Tale). Now, the marine center has grown into a full-fledged tourist attraction, in part due to Winter’s inspiring story.
Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) is now a senior in high school, and he works at the marine center, training new volunteers. He even has groupies, which irritates Hazel Haskett (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). Hazel’s father Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr) is the head marine doctor at the center and was instrumental in saving Winter. This time around, Winter’s surrogate mom, Panama, is old and sadly, she passes away. Now Winter is depressed, and the Clearwater Marine Hospital is in violation of USDA regulations which state that dolphins are required to be paired with other dolphins. If Winter is not paired with another dolphin within 30 days, she will be transferred to another facility.
There is a dolphin at the center, Mandy, named after the little girl who discovered her stranded on the beach. Mandy had a bad sunburn and some other problems from being stranded in the sun for so long (I had no idea that dolphins could get sunburnt, but apparently they can). Sawyer and Hazel are hopeful that Mandy can become Winter’s new companion. However, once Mandy’s rehab is complete, she may be well enough to be returned to the ocean. Dr. Haskett has a difficult decision to make: keep Mandy and see if she is compatible with Winter, or return her to the ocean.
Meanwhile, Winter’s depression continues to worsen, to the point where she actually attacks Sawyer. Sawyer has his own decision to make, as he has been chosen for a semester at a sea program sponsored by a professor from Boston. Sawyer doesn’t want to leave Winter, but he could learn a lot from this experience.
One evening, the crew gets a call about a stranded baby dolphin. It was so cute!! When they brought it to the marine center, they realize that this might be their chance to help Winter, so they named the baby dolphin Hope, in the hope that they will be able to rehab her to be Winter’s new companion.
I enjoyed Dolphin Tale 2. I was glad that the entire cast from Dolphin Tale was back for the second installment, and that we got to see more of Winter’s story. Although he wasn’t in it much, Morgan Freeman was great as usual, and I again enjoyed the antics of Rufus, a very enthusiastic pelican that lived at the Marine Hospital. This time, he had a strange obsession with a turtle. Inspired by the true story of Winter and Hope, Dolphin Tale 2 is a light-hearted drama (I use the term drama loosely) that is an inspiration for the whole family. Stick around through the credits for real footage of Hope’s rescue and Mandy’s release.
