Florida dolphin picks Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV
A Clearwater Marine Aquarium trainer kneels on a platform across the pool, holding a football in each hand over the water. One bears the logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the other the Kansas City Chiefs. A male bottlenose dolphin named Nicholas — who has correctly picked the winners of his last six sports predictions — glides through the water to touch one of the balls with his rostrum (nose), solidifying his pick for which team will be the Super Bowl LV champions.
And his pick is … the Chiefs.
“A lot of people think we train him for a specific choice, but we don’t,” said Heather Dring, a Clearwater Marine Aquarium senior animal care specialist. “It’s completely voluntary and up to him which one he wants to engage with.”
It all started in 2017, when he correctly selected the Clemson Tigers to win the College Football Playoff National Championship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
“During his normal enrichment activities, a lot of times we’ll let him choose different enrichment that he wants to engage with, and we thought it would be fun to see if he would choose a winning sports team for that specific event,” she said. “He ended up choosing Clemson, which actually ended up being correct. And so, moving forward, we thought that it would be really fun to continue and kind of make it a tradition.”
Since then, the 19-year-old dolphin has made predictions in a variety of sports, including hockey and baseball. His current winning streak began with his selection of the Kansas City Chiefs to win the 2020 Super Bowl followed by the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2020 NBA Finals, Alabama Crimson Tide to win the 2021 Rose Bowl, the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss Rebels to win the 2021 Outback Bowl and the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Nicholas and his mother, Noelle, were found stranded and badly sunburned on a beach near Gibsonton in 2002. His mother did not survive, leaving the 6-month-old calf orphaned. For this reason, Nicholas was deemed non-releasable by the U.S. government and became a permanent resident of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
“A lot of times people ask, ‘Well, why wasn’t Nicholas pushed back out into the ocean?’ And actually, with dolphins or whales that strand on the beach, a lot of times they’re very, very sick or even injured and most likely will strand again,” Dring said. “If you ever come across a stranded whale or dolphin … call a stranding hotline so that animal can get the care that they need because if they’re pushed back out, chances are they’re going to strand again.”
In addition to Nicholas’ Super Bowl pick, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (249 Windward Passage in Clearwater) will host football-themed events with special food and commemorative cups through Feb. 7. For more information, call 727-441-1790 or go to cmaquarium.org/event/big-game-week.
Want to reach out? Email me at kchristiansen@orlandosentinel.com. Find more fun things on Instagram @fun.things.orlando and Facebook @fun.things.orlando.
