Marineland of Florida (usually just called Marineland), one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the public on March 4, 2006 (charging the original 1938 admission price of one dollar). In 2011, the park was purchased by the Georgia Aquarium for a reported $9.1 million. It is currently managed as a non-profit facility dedicated to research, education and conservation under the management of Marineland Waves of the Future.
History
Beginnings
Marineland was first conceived by W. Douglas Burden, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Sherman Pratt, and Ilya Andreyevich Tolstoy (grandson of Leo Tolstoy) as an oceanarium that could be used to film marine life. A site was selected on the Atlantic Ocean south of St. Augustine, eventually known as the town of Marineland. The site of Marineland is within a grant given to London barrister Levett Blackborne in 1767. The well-connected Blackborne, grandson of Sir Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London, never settled his grant (nor even visited Florida), and eventually Blackborne's plantation was regranted to John Graham, a Georgia Loyalist fleeing the Revolutionary War. Ultimately, the land that is today Marineland was broken up over the years into smaller parcels.
Financing and construction presented challenges as Marineland was the first attempt at capturing and sustaining sea creatures. These challenges were overcome. Construction and engineering were carried out Arthur Franklin Perry Co. of Jacksonville. On June 23, 1938, "Marine Studios" (the name "Marineland of Florida" would later be adopted) began operations with its main attraction a bottlenose dolphin. Unexpectedly, over 20,000 tourists clogged Highway A1A to visit the new attraction. For many decades Marineland consisted of not only the oceanariums but several amenities including a motel (Marine Village Court, Marineland Motel and Quality Inn/Marineland); Dolphin Restaurant and Moby Dick Lounge; Periwinkle Snack Bar and Sandpiper Snack Bar; Marineland Marina; plus fruit shop and gift shop; and a pier at the north end of the facility. A Texaco service station was adjacent to the Periwinkle Snack Bar, and Greyhound Bus Lines stopped regularly during its St. Augustine to Daytona Beach run.
The total property area consisted of sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Originally planned for the St. Augustine area, residents of that community did not look favorably on the attraction being located there; thus the new site south of Matanzas Inlet was chosen. It is also said that Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney chose the upper east coast of Florida due to the less frequent occurrence of hurricanes compared to other parts of Florida.
There were two large tanks as the center piece of "Marine Studios" or as they were known as a Marine Studios coined name, oceanariums. Visitors upon entering would encounter the circular oceanarium from the south. The circular oceanarium nicknamed circ tank by staff was the home of dolphins and sometimes some groupers and pelicans. The circular oceanarium held of water circulated at per minute. This oceanarium was also deep and across. with some rocks laid in on the sandy bottom. The rectangular oceanarium, nicknamed "the rec tank" by staff, held of water circulated at a minute. This oceanarium was home for an assortment of fish both local and tropical, sharks, eels, turtles and other marine life. Its tank was long and wide at its widest point and required two cables, bolted to the walls, across the topside to assist with structural integrity.
The rectangular oceanarium was the largest of the Marine Studios tanks, it had two deep sections, the northern and southern thirds, while the middle had a depth of . The rectangular oceanarium was heated with an oil fired furnace down below deck to heat the tank during the cooler winter months to protect tropical fish. In keeping with the nautical theme of the facility a ships snorkel smokestack was on the top deck for the furnace below.
The two oceanariums were connected by "the flume", a shallow waterway between the two large tanks. The flume was gated to keep specimens in their respective tanks with water able to flow through the grated gates. The flume also was used anytime large animals needed to be moved to or from a transport vehicle. A large crane was built as part of the structure, from which nautical flags would fly, keeping the "marine" theme of the facility. Below deck, corridors surrounded the two oceanariums lined with portholes into the tanks with a central passageway on the lowest level connecting both tanks so visitors could move from one oceanarium to the other below deck.
The Aquarist Office was located on the middle deck on the south side of the circular oceanarium. All of this was considered the original "Marine Studios" including a biological station, front ticket office, announcers' booth (originally located on the top deck before being moved below deck on the central passageway), and other displays. Visitors coming in what was the original main entrance would walk under an arch that stood above a large slab of coquina rock with the words "Marine Studios 1938" on it in lettering, and up a walkway past the "Fudge Kitchen" to a ticket office at the south end of the Marine Studios structure. From there visitors could observe from the top deck of the tanks or wander the hallways below and observe through the numerous portholes in the walls of the tanks of both oceanariums.
The "porpoise stadium" with its show tank and holding tanks along with bleachers would be added in 1952 as the park rapidly expanded. The stadium would showcase "Flippy" the educated porpoise. During that time dolphins were locally known as porpoises even though a porpoise completely different type of marine mammal. The reason for this was to avoid confusing mammal dolphins with the dolphin fish, or mahi-mahi, as well as because it was widely used local slang at the time. The roof was added to the stadium in 1961 as the show and animals in it were expanded. Also in 1961, the name Marineland started being used as opposed to Marine Studios in marketing and promotion. Expansion continued as the main walkway had a roof added, then famous large arches were installed in 1968 with giant letters spelling out MARINELAND above the new stadium roof and allowed the facility to be seen from some distance off approaching north or south on A1A.
The top deck of the circular oceanarium was also reconfigured. An administration building in 1962 replacing an older one and a proper laboratory in 1953 were also constructed west of A1A as part of Marineland's growth in the 50s and 60s. Also through the 50s, maintenance and paint shops were constructed; this mostly built out the area immediately west of the "Marine Studios" structure. On the east side of A1A further additions included a large gift shop in 1954 and a fresh water exhibit built just east of the circular oceanarium in 1966. This fresh water habitat would see several uses over the years with displays of fresh water dolphins, manatees, and fresh water fish, then a conversion to salt water for "the shark nursery", a tank for smaller sharks. Eventually in the 1980s this would become "The Wonders of the Spring" showcasing fresh water fish found in Florida's springs. North of the Porpoise Stadium, a penguin display and a shallow tank were added in the area of what would be known as Whitney Park. The shallow tank saw several functions held dolphins for a while and eventually became a sea lion display with shows added in the early 1980s. Even though the park was now billing itself as Marineland, the name Marine Studios would stick for some time and the "Studios Department" which managed most of the park would last until the end of 1987.
Salt water for the tanks and oceanariums was brought in by sets of pipes that ran under the sand out into the ocean. Two pump stations called "galleries" pumped the water from that pipe to a filtration plant. Then the sea water was circulated through the oceanariums and out into the Intracoastal. A dedicated team of pump crews maintained the system 24 hours a day, keeping a vigilant eye on water levels and pump operations. Water was treated by copper sulfate to help reduce algae growth with lab crews monitoring the amounts used. This method of treatment was of the groundbreaking discoveries by Marineland crews and scientists.
Having the grandson of Leo Tolstoy involved in the project helped Marineland become a very fashionable destination in its early days, prompting writers Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, John Dos Passos, and Ernest Hemingway to visit Moby Dick's Bar located there. Ms. Rawlings was married to Norton Baskin who at one time (1950s/early 1960s) was the operator and manager of the Dolphin Restaurant and the Moby Dick Lounge. The park's facilities were very popular with tourists and also used for filming numerous movies, including Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and Revenge of the Creature (1955).
The first dolphin trainer in the world, Adolph Frohn, started training dolphins and developed "dolphin shows", which became an additional draw in the early 1950s as Marineland became one of Florida's major attractions, attracting over 900,000 visitors per year with peak attendance in the mid-1970s. Further expansion westward occurred at this time, including expansion of the "Sandpiper Snack Bar", with other additions including the Playport playground, the "Citrus Shop", the "Beachcomber Gift Shop", the "Shell Museum" and the "Aquarius 3D Theater". A few exhibits were added as well, moving the electric eel show to the west side of the park from the east, all of these reached by winding landscaped pathways that crossed a network of brooks and streams on wooden bridges. A centerpiece was a statue of King Neptune with dolphins in one of the larger ponds.
Little known was a hippopotamus exhibit that was built in the woods west of the duck pond area. This was never opened to the public and sat dormant for years. Additional expansion on the ocean side through the 70s included Whitney Park north of the stadium, featuring a boardwalk, exhibits, and an observation deck. The University of Florida Lab was added along with a hall and dorms in the mid-1970s on the very northwest part of the property in 1972 and 1975. The hall dubbed "Whitney Hall" would become the location of Marineland employees' annual Christmas parties, a tradition started in the early years of the attraction and continuing into the 1990s. To the south a large and expanded hotel operated by Quality Inn was built east of A1A south of the old hotel in 1976.
Divers using the Miller Dunn Style 3 Divinhood helmet would feed fish, eels, turtles and dolphins by hand and "jumpmasters" and trainers would conduct dolphin shows 6 times a day. Announcers would inform visitors of upcoming programs by ringing bells over the PA system and announcing the nautical time (in keeping with the marine theme of the park) and translating it to standard time. The pre-show and transition music played was also in keeping with the nautical theme: a combination of The Sailor's Hornpipe and Drunken Sailor instrumental mixes. The first show was presented at 9:30 am, with subsequent shows at 11:00 am, 12:30 pm, 2:00 pm, 3:30 pm and 4:50 pm (the time of the last show was shifted to 5:00 pm at some point). Each show started with the "jumping porpoises/dolphin show" on the top deck of the circular oceanarium. Here a "jumpmaster" would have dolphins leaping into the air.