Clearwater Marine Aquarium staff is grieving the loss of their 51-year-old bottlenose dolphin, PJ, on Sunday. The Clearwater staff said, “She took her last breaths while in the arms of her animal care and vet teams.”
PJ was first found stranded in the shallow water in Old Tampa Bay. After extensive research the Clearwater staff found that PJ had numerous health problems and decided to take her in. She was the aquarium’s oldest dolphin, and had lived in the aquarium’s rehabilitation center since August 2018.
“We are so incredibly grateful to be able to provide her every comfort during her sunset years,” wrote the aquarium staff. “From the instant she arrived at CMA following her rescue, it was clear that her easygoing personality would make her a perfect match for Winter and Hope. She later acted as a motherly figure with our newest rescue, Apollo. PJ is now able to join Winter and serve as her bodyguard for eternity – as she would have it no other way.”
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is open Sunday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday-Saturday. You can buy tickets online at the aquarium’s website.
‘Violent drug ring is taken down by St. Petersburg Police
The St. Petersburg Police Department found a massive “violent drug ring” that was trafficking millions of dollars worth of drugs in various locations throughout Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The investigation has been ongoing for 10 months, and in the process, 26 individuals connected to the drug ring were arrested.
Authorities said the gang received drugs by weekly shipments from California. The drugs shipment process concluded of tractor tailors making cross-country trips to Hillsborough County, where the gang would then break the shipment into different vehicles and transport them across St. Petersburg locations.
“This violent drug ring operated throughout the entire region and law enforcement agencies were more effective working together to bring it down,” Holloway said.
“People sometimes may say, ‘this is just marijuana,’” Chief Deputy Donna Lusczynski with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said. “Over half of our homicides in Hillsborough County are related to just marijuana, so it’s the violence that is associated with these drugs, and the people dealing them.”
The shipment consisted of 1,800 pounds of marijuana, 42 grams of crack cocaine, 40 grams of powdered cocaine, 5 grams of meth, 1,054 grams of THC wax, 7 pounds of liquid promethazine, 252 BU Crystals, and $360,000 in cash. Additionally, authorities found 15 firearms and one of them were connected to two shootings in Hillsborough County.
Credits
Anchor: Aziz Turner
Producer: Haley Zarcone
Reporters: Meredith Lamm, Haley Zarcone, Alice Barlow, Aziz Turner
Teleprompter: Alice Barlow
Graphics: Christopher Zingale
Video Editor: Anthony Delucca
Cameras: Meredith Lamm
Web Editor: Kanaan Jones
Web Managing Editor: Chrisovaladou Pantelis
Graduate Assistant: McKenzie Muskett
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Stephanie Anderson, Wayne Garcia
