After being bought out by the owners of Sea World. Six weeks after the final sale went through, Marineland was abruptly closed in February of 1987, under the cover of darkness, and all its marine mammals shipped off to San Diego. Corky's name was even changed to "Shamu" after arriving at Sea World. All this was done under great protest by numerous supporters of Marineland, after promises from then SeaWorld owners Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich that Marineland would remain open. Much of the park's infrastructure layed abandoned for nearly 20 years. An unfortunate demise for an institution, that at its opening in 1954, was the world's largest Oceanarium.
