Marineland Cornered the Fish Market on Originality

by GREG MAY
(Orlando, FL)

When it came to originality, nobody did it better than Marineland.

The World's Original Marine Attraction opened to the public June 23, 1938 as nearly 30,000 curious guests jammed the new Ocean Boulevard (SR A1A) to take a look at the world's first oceanarium.

Marineland (originally Marine Studios) was a pioneer in marine life husbandry ranging from water filtration to marine mammal training.

Marine attractions all over the world owe their existence to Marineland of Florida.

There was always something new at Marineland!

But Marineland's biggest year as far as expansion and renovation is concerned was in 1966. That was the year Marineland renovated the Top Deck of the Circular Oceanarium (home to their dolphin community), opened the Amazon River Exhibit and rescued rare Risso's dolphins from a stranding. These two male dolphins survived and became a mainstay in the Top Deck feeding for several years (see "More Marineland Memories" on this website).

The original Marineland presented a four-part program which began on the Top Deck with the feeding of the "Famous Jumping Porpoises". Everybody remembers those postcard pictures of Jumpmaster Mitch Lightsey feeding the dolphins with his trademark stance on the platform extending over the water.

The Top Deck feeding could very well have been the longest running show in history, beginning in the late 30's and continuing until the oceanariums were demolished in 2005. (There was a four-year hiatus from 1942-1946 when Marineland was closed for the duration of World War II).

But the Top Deck feeding took on a new level of excitement beginning in 1966 when the "cherry picker" was installed.

For a kid fascinated by gizmos and gadgets (my dad was an engineer) the "cherry picker" mounted upside-down over the tank from those magnificent intersecting arches was unlike anything ever seen at a tourist attraction. And part of the thrill of visiting Marineland when I was growing up was seeing those arches looming in the distance as we approached Marineland on A1A!

According to Vic Johnson, who worked on the project in April 1966, the arches were in four sections and each section weighed 7000 pounds. Cranes lifted each section in place over the tank and Vic remembers watching "four magnificent sunrises over the Atlantic Ocean from up top".

Once the criss-crossing arches were bolted in place, the "cherry picker" was mounted upside-down from their junction 50 feet above the water in the center of the tank. The "cherry picker" was purchased from the SkyWorker Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia and allowed the dolphins to be fed from different parts of the 75-foot diameter tank. But before the hydraulic device was installed, Marineland had to 'condition' the dolphins to jump from the new feeding platform.


So the AquaBobber was introduced.

If ever there was an original idea, it was the AquaBobber! This was a buoy that floated in the tank with a mast and crow's nest extending from it. The Jumpmaster climbed the rungs to the crow's nest and, using his weight, made the AquaBobber swing back and forth as the dolphins were encouraged to jump for fish. I wonder how often the Jumpmaster took a spill from his precarious position!

No sooner had the "cherry picker" been installed when Marineland introduced two rare Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) to the tank. "Dennis" and "Elsworth" had been rescued from a stranding on nearby Crescent Beach and quickly adjusted to their new environment. The two male dolphins would leap their full length from the water during each of the six daily feedings to dine on squid.

What a thrill it was to discover a Universal newsreel on YouTube about these rare dolphins when they were first rescued in May of 1966!

While Vic and his crew were toiling away on those arches, Marineland was putting the finishing touches on the Amazon River Exhibit. This was a building located on the ocean side of the Circular Oceanarium housing an indoor tank fronted by a series of glass viewing windows.

In July 1966, Marineland made an expedition to South America to collect freshwater dolphins (Inia geoffrensis). They returned after six weeks on the Amazon with eleven animals but this was too many for the special tank they had prepared so four were traded to their sister oceanarium in California, Marineland of the Pacific, for two pilot whales.

The seven remaining dolphins never failed to elicit remarks and startles from Marineland guests as they ogled us through the viewing windows with their elongated snouts, humped backs and big, floppy flippers. For someone familiar with the sleek, streamlined marine dolphins, the Amazon dolphins reminded you of something out of a prehistoric era.

Although the original Marineland of Florida is just a memory, this writer hopes that the Marineland memories will never be forgotten.