It is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of sick and injured marine animals, public education, conservation, and research.

Numerous forms of marine life are permanent residents at the aquarium, all of which have serious injuries that prevent their return to the wild.

The aquarium's best-known permanent resident was Winter, a bottlenose dolphin who was rescued in December 2005 after having her tail caught in a crab trap.

[4] In 1972, a group of private volunteers decided it was time to establish a permanent marine biology learning center in the Clearwater area.

In 1978, the city of Clearwater agreed to donate the aquarium's current facility, an abandoned water treatment plant, to CMSC.

With its huge holding pools and bayside location, the building was a perfect fit for a marine facility's needs.

Kellenberger's main duties were teaching summer camp classes for children and spearheading a massive remodeling effort of the facility.

Gradually, the cement and steel building was modified for aquarium purposes and in 1980 was granted a USDA Research Facility permit, allowing it to prepare two 65,000 gallon pools for the rehabilitation of dolphins and sea turtles.

In the 1990s, as renovations continued to provide more public area and education programs, the facility's name was changed to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) to reflect the increasing level of community interaction.

To give Winter the ability to swim normally, CMA worked with a team of experts to create a prosthetic silicone and plastic tail for her.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium currently is home to manatees, North American river otters, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins, green sea turtles, Kemp's ridley sea turtles, cownose rays, southern stingrays, nurse sharks, great white pelicans, and other fish, including gag, hogfish, and red drum.

Each permanent resident was deemed non-releasable by National Marine Fisheries and unable to return to the wild due to injuries or other impairments.

In December 2010, she was discovered in the shallows of Indian River Lagoon as an orphaned 2-month-old calf, still attempting to nurse from her mother, who had died after becoming beached.

It was ultimately determined that Hope did not make a good candidate for release because she was very young and had not learned the necessary survival skills to be out in the wild.

Today, Hope lives at the aquarium with Nicholas and Izzy, and she enjoys enrichment items such as squirt guns and bubbles.

Nicholas remained in critical condition, suffering both from malnourishment and severe sunburns which covered over thirty percent of his body.

Like Hope, it was determined that Nicholas did not make a suitable candidate for release because of his dependent status at the time of his stranding and rehabilitation.

Winter developed a way to swim without a tail in an unnatural side to side motion, but because this was damaging her spinal cord, a prosthetic tail was made especially for her by Kevin Carroll and a team of experts from Hanger, Inc. Winter starred in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale and the 2014 sequel Dolphin Tale 2, which was inspired by her story and the sequel inspired on Hope's story.

Although she recovered well, she was deemed unreleasable due to numerous medical issues, including hearing and vision loss, worn teeth, and arthritis.

These patients, Yeti and Zamboni, are juvenile male manatees that were rescued in early 2024 due to cold stress.

Walle was rescued from the wild as an orphaned pup by a private individual, and was transferred to CMA after becoming too dependent on humans.

Many of them were rescued by CMA after being hit by boats, entangled in fishing line, or sustaining other permanent injuries that prevent their return to the wild.

Cownose rays currently reside in the "Stingray Beach" and "Mavis's Rescue Hideaway" exhibits, where they can be touched and fed by aquarium visitors.

Stone Dolphin Complex, and it welcomed its first non-releasable inhabitants, Winter, Hope, PJ, Nicholas, and Hemingway in 2020.