PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — You've probably seen dolphin statues all over the Tampa Bay Area, but many of them have gone missing over the years.
A local organization called Amplify Clearwater is asking the community to help find the missing dolphins.
Adria Bernstein is an artist who paints many of the dolphin statues.
"Because they're just a simple structure...You get to bring it to life and you get character, and you get personality."
It's a process that takes weeks.
"Get it in your hands it's all white lightly sanded and you prepare it dust it off prime it and paint away," said Bernstein.
Once finished, local businesses in the Tampa Bay Area can buy them and display them outside of their shops.
"People always run to the dolphin. The kids run to the dolphin and they're like '#clearwaterdolphins' and '#dolphintrail.' It's just great to just bring a little happiness and bring people together and understand that there's more to just a sculpture of a dolphin."
The dolphin trail project began in the mid-2000s and allowed tourists and locals to travel all over the area, following a route led by these dolphin sculptures.
But many of these unique statues have disappeared over the years.
"If a business moves or relocates, the dolphin may go with them sometimes they change the position of where the dolphin is located," said Joe Lugo, who works with Amplify Clearwater.
Lugo said there's a total of 120 dolphin sculptures in the Tampa Bay Area.
"We know we're about a good 60 of them. We have an idea of where some of the others are and some of them we just don't know where they are. I know that dolphins don't usually move on dry land, but they seem to get around on dry land," said Lugo.
Lugo said they are great for tourism.
"When you have a dolphin at your business and people check the dolphin trail. They're going to go to your business," said Lugo.
Now, the organization is asking the public to help find these missing fish out of water.
"I hope they're found. I hope we can find them. We can replace them we can relocate them," said Lugo.
Once found, Lugo said the organization is going to improve the dolphin tour.
"Resurrect it and to bring kind of animation to it, and some kind of engagement and some virtual reality to it," said Lugo.
It's something Bernstein said will make the area even more unique.
"Watching the families with all the dolphins, saying 'oh let's take a picture" and "let's get the picture taken." It's wonderful to see the happiness, the upbeat this area needs, you know. We have a lot of positive energy and it just brings it to another level," said Bernstein.
