Wildlife officials and law enforcement officers have raided a Florida marine theme park where several dolphins died in mysterious circumstances, and activists filmed survivors in tiny pools swimming in murky green water.
Agents served a search warrant on Thursday evening at the Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, where the owners, the Mexico-based Dolphin Company, last week refused access to Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) rangers seeking to conduct a wellness check.
A state investigation is now under way into conditions at the park following the deaths of three bottlenose dolphins in October, and a fourth earlier this month when one of the mammals crashed headfirst into a shallow area of a pool while performing tricks during a public performance.
James Uthmeier, the Florida attorney general, confirmed the raid, conducted in cooperation with the Florida department of law enforcement (FDLE), in a post to X.
“Today, at my direction, FDLE and FWC executed a search warrant at the Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach,” he wrote.
“While this investigation is in the beginning stages, we will not tolerate any animal abuse in Florida.”
The park has become a target of activist groups including the Canada-based marine non-profit Urgent Seas, which posted the drone footage taken earlier this month and has expressed repeated concerns about the conditions in which the surviving 12 dolphins are kept.
The organization said the environment at the theme park had deteriorated severely in recent months, and believed more dolphins will die in the small and decrepit concrete pools. It has organized a public demonstration at the park for 10am on Saturday to reinforce its call for the dolphins to be relocated to safer facilities.
“The conditions at Gulf World are among the worst we’ve ever observed,” Phil Demers, the executive director of Urgent Seas, said.
“The sheer number of dead dolphins over such a short period of time is shocking and inexcusable, yet Gulf World continues to operate without repercussions. You can’t unsee those conditions once you’ve seen them.
“Hopefully authorities will act with some sense of urgency, and unless those dolphins and other animals are removed as soon as possible we can assume more will die.”
The three mammals that died in October were far younger than the average life expectancy of 40 years for bottlenose dolphins. Gus, 14, was euthanized for an unspecified life-threatening condition; Turk, 15, had bacterial lung disease; and Nate, 20, died of a systemic infection, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine mammal inventory reports.
The incident involving Jett, 14, occurred over the first weekend of this month when, according to witnesses, the dolphin appeared to misjudge a jump and suffered acute head trauma. Spectators were asked to leave the show area.
Representatives of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) were also part of Thursday’s raid, according to WJHG of Panama City Beach. The agency has cited Gulf World Marine Park numerous times dating back to 2014, most recently in January when USDA inspectors found sea lion pools rusty and in disrepair, with paint flaking into the water; cracked and broken concrete around a dolphin pool with powdered concrete in the water; and no shade for dolphins.
The report also noted an exodus of six maintenance workers and seven animal care employees in the previous three months. “It is evident that the facility does not have enough employees to maintain the prescribed level of husbandry,” the report concluded.
The Dolphin Company did not respond to a request for comment. The Florida attorney general’s office said it could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
FWC, meanwhile, said in a statement that it “takes the health and welfare of all wildlife, including Florida’s marine mammals, very seriously.
“Due to growing concerns about the sanitation and condition of aquatic enclosures, as well as the wellbeing of captive bottlenose dolphins at Gulf World Marine Park, FWC has joined local and state partner agencies to conduct a thorough investigation of the facility.
“The safety and humane treatment of these animals are of the utmost importance, and we remain committed to ensuring that all necessary steps are taken to protect them.”
The advocacy group World Animal Protection called for an end to public shows involving marine mammals.
“This venue and the rest of the captive dolphin industry need to stop breeding dolphins for profit, otherwise these deaths will continue,” Liz Cabrera Holtz, the group’s senior campaigns manager, said.
“Dolphins are charismatic and social beings who deserve more than a lifetime in unnatural and cruel conditions. Entertaining tourists is not a justification for their suffering.”
