Miami Seaquarium Miami Seaquarium

Yeah the era of marine mammals at the Seaquarium (or to be specific what it ends up as) is in the past. No matter who takes over the bad history of such animals at the location can’t be escaped. Perhaps it could be reworked into a bonefide rescue facility but that’s as far as it’ll go regarding mammals in my opinion.
 
dillotest0 said:
That I think would be a good way to go forward. Though part of me wants to say that with a good amount of redevelopment it could even have minor aquarium features and maybe some aviaries as well; maintained by those who do well. But I do think one thing has long been ascertained - should it be that the Seaquarium is forced to close down; a possibility which now is even more likely than ever [for the amount of times that has been said], the park simply cannot go back to having marine mammals. Do many people even think much about 'Flipper' these days?
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I can't speak for other generations, but as a younger millennial, Flipper doesn't have much cultural relevance. I don't think I've seen a single episode, actually. Though I do know a few lines to the theme song. Some channels did air reruns so some of us would have seen it as kids, but I haven't met anyone with much attachment to it. I can't imagine that the Flipper name is that much of a selling point these days.

If Seaquarium closes down, I won't be surprised if a lot of it (or all of it) just gets demolished and used for something else. From what I've seen, and from what people here are saying, most of the facilities are very dated. Getting them into good condition might cost too much to be worth it. (which is probably why MSQ hasn't updated) If the county does decide to keep it as an aquarium, I would expect a hard shift to an education and rescue model. Get away from MSQ's horrible reputation. If they go that route, keeping marine mammals could still be doable, but it would be safer if they stuck to rescued mammals.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
If Seaquarium closes down, I won't be surprised if a lot of it (or all of it) just gets demolished and used for something else. From what I've seen, and from what people here are saying, most of the facilities are very dated. Getting them into good condition might cost too much to be worth it. (which is probably why MSQ hasn't updated) If the county does decide to keep it as an aquarium, I would expect a hard shift to an education and rescue model. Get away from MSQ's horrible reputation. If they go that route, keeping marine mammals could still be doable, but it would be safer if they stuck to rescued mammals.
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Are you imagining a Clearwater Marine Aquarium type of place? I could see it working and even being considered a success story though with the public's fixation on the sanctuary model as of late the opposite is also possible. I imagined it as somewhere that wouldn't display mammals deemed not fit for release and would send them somewhere else for a permanent home (mainly due to reputation).
 
BlobfishBoy said:
The Seaquarium has been given an official termination notice regarding their lease. They’ve been giving until April 21st to vacate and if they haven’t left by then, the eviction process will occur. The park does have the option of fighting the eviction in court if they choose to. It may FINALLY be time that the Miami Seaquarium as we know it will disappear (good riddance).

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article286361235.html
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I RACED to ZooChat literally as soon as I heard the news lol. Finally some justice!!
 
BlobfishBoy said:
Are you imagining a Clearwater Marine Aquarium type of place? I could see it working and even being considered a success story though with the public's fixation on the sanctuary model as of late the opposite is also possible. I imagined it as somewhere that wouldn't display mammals deemed not fit for release and would send them somewhere else for a permanent home (mainly due to reputation).
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Aquariums and zoos, the good ones, are more popular than ever, and I think the majority of people agree that they serve a good education and conservation mission. If the space gets converted to a legit quality aquarium I think a lot of people would go for it. Hell, the redemption angle might be a strong selling point. Of course, if they go that route, I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to stay away from display dolphins entirely, even as rescues.
 
I don't think it's tremendously likely that this place will be transformed into a good aquarium by removing the marine mammals. The problems with the existing administration run much deeper than care for a specific group of animals and I'm hesitant to think a new aquarium would be seen as a worthy or wise investment on the same site considering the existing aquarium's stench and level of infamy at this point. I would be happy to be wrong.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
Aquariums and zoos, the good ones, are more popular than ever, and I think the majority of people agree that they serve a good education and conservation mission. If the space gets converted to a legit quality aquarium I think a lot of people would go for it. Hell, the redemption angle might be a strong selling point. Of course, if they go that route, I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to stay away from display dolphins entirely, even as rescues.
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Yeah perhaps I was being a bit too doom and gloom about it. I guess we'll just have to see if the county is still interested in making it a marine related facility or not. I know the property is in a valuable space so I could see them leasing it off for something completely unrelated.
 
Though I will say I find it curious the way some articles phrase the happenstance...
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Would lead one to think what panic must've occurred when the 119th whale and/or dolphin died... but can't have been as bad as what came later since 120 is the death limit apparently
 

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BlobfishBoy said:
Yeah perhaps I was being a bit too doom and gloom about it. I guess we'll just have to see if the county is still interested in making it a marine related facility or not. I know the property is in a valuable space so I could see them leasing it off for something completely unrelated.
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Yeah, I think that's much more likely to happen. A good aquarium would be cool, but the city would probably rather use that prime real estate for something more profitable.
 
Another period of quietness... but here's one interesting story in the mean time.
Race against time: Florida woman fights to rescue beloved tortoise from Miami Seaquarium as closure looms
In 1990 a Miami woman received a pet red-footed tortoise; and in 1995 when she moved to a colder area she gave the tortoise to the Miami Seaquarium to live in their new rainforest exhibit with other similarly aged tortoises.
Now that she is [presumably] back in Miami, and the tortoise is [presumably] still alive it is her wish to receive her tortoise back as a pet. Recent visits of hers found a tortoise there that could be her pet; with an extra scute; but as of yet nothing has been confirmed.
The Seaquarium has been very silent about any potential animal moves. They are of the preposition that their legal dispute will be in their favour. But Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava remains similarly solid; in that she is of the preposition that the eviction will take place in April.
 
How many dolphins do they have? Since Miami's seaquarium is closing, where will all the dolphins go? What aquarium are candidates to take these dolphins and rehabilitate them?
 
Zoo adventures said:
How many dolphins do they have? Since Miami's seaquarium is closing, where will all the dolphins go? What aquarium are candidates to take these dolphins and rehabilitate them?
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I believe it's 18 bottlenose dolphins. The Dolphin Company still owns the animals so they could transfer them to any of their facilities. Excluding the Seaquarium three of them are in the US and all are in Florida. One of these, Marineland Florida, is AZA accredited. They have some facilities in Mexico as well. I don't think there are public plans to transfer any dolphins but I would think outside of the Dolphin Company, Seaworld Orlando would be an obvious candidate as Seaworld and the Seaquarium have an existing relationship and is not too far away.
 
BlobfishBoy said:
I believe it's 18 bottlenose dolphins. The Dolphin Company still owns the animals so they could transfer them to any of their facilities. Excluding the Seaquarium three of them are in the US and all are in Florida. One of these, Marineland Florida, is AZA accredited. They have some facilities in Mexico as well. I don't think there are public plans to transfer any dolphins but I would think outside of the Dolphin Company, Seaworld Orlando would be an obvious candidate as Seaworld and the Seaquarium have an existing relationship and is not too far away.
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Some other options could also include Gulfarium, who just increased capacity with the new habitat. And it’s a bit out there but Minnesota too as they’d have space as well since they housed Brookfield’s pod.
 
I think that it is wild speculation, at this point, to assume the animals will be going anywhere other than other Dolphin Company locations - if they are moved at all. The Seaquarium isn't just going to give this up that easily, they are going to fight it. The animals are not (that we are aware of) being confiscated like the manatees were. The Dolphin Company has lots of places they can move them to and still keep them in the business.
 
SwampDonkey said:
I think that it is wild speculation, at this point, to assume the animals will be going anywhere other than other Dolphin Company locations - if they are moved at all. The Seaquarium isn't just going to give this up that easily, they are going to fight it. The animals are not (that we are aware of) being confiscated like the manatees were. The Dolphin Company has lots of places they can move them to and still keep them in the business.
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Agree, within the US they own plenty of places to send them if needed. Getting export permits for their ex-US locations may prove challenging.
 
SwampDonkey said:
I think that it is wild speculation, at this point, to assume the animals will be going anywhere other than other Dolphin Company locations - if they are moved at all. The Seaquarium isn't just going to give this up that easily, they are going to fight it. The animals are not (that we are aware of) being confiscated like the manatees were. The Dolphin Company has lots of places they can move them to and still keep them in the business.
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Agreed, I think the majority of the dolphins will be sent to other facilities owned by the Dolphin Company. I think their is a high chance Gulf World or Gulfarium will be possible candidates. However I think SeaWorld Orlando could also be a possible candidate.
 
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