It took five deaths in under a year and the bankruptcy of its owner for the remaining eleven Gulf World dolphins to be removed from their tanks. I speak of tanks that had long been so green of algae buildup that the liquid inside much more resembled the Japanese melon liqueur Midori than it did water, which limited visibility to only a few feet, both a safety and a health issue.
The last of the five deaths, of the rescued dolphin Samira, occurred on 27 May 2025. Three days later, Beverly Osborne, lead curator at the family owned Theater of the Sea in Islamorada, Florida, offered the family-owned park’s services to NOAA:
We respectfully offer Theater of the Sea as a potential placement site for the Gulf World dolphins.
Our expert team, led by a curator and veterinarian each with 40 years of experience, have a 100% success rate in acclimating non-releasable cetaceans as well as those from other facilities to Theater of the Sea.
We have abundant space in our four-acre natural saltwater lagoon which would allow for the Gulf World dolphins to remain in their original social groups, and if needed in their own pool.
Theater of the Sea will provide whatever resources necessary to care for these animals, including covering the cost of transport.
With appreciation for your consideration,
Beverley Osborne and Curatorial Team
NOAA responded on 2 June 2025:
Good afternoon, Beverly.
Thank you for your inquiry and offer for Theater of the Sea to serve as a potential placement site for the dolphins at Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, Florida (7 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus and 4 rough-toothed dolphins, Steno bredanensis). Since Gulf World still has custody of the dolphins, please directly contact Michael Flynn (Michael.Flynn@riveron.com) and Robert Wagstaff (Robert.Wagstaff@riveron.com) who are representing Gulf World’s interests and are the appropriate people for you to contact regarding your offer.
Sincerely,
Courtney
The following day, Riveron, the firm managing The Dolphin Company’s reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US courts, submitted a request to NOAA for emergency transport waivers. Contrary to recommendations made by numerous members of the public to federal and state officials that the dolphins be relocated to facilities not owned or operated by The Dolphin Company, the final destinations for the bottlenose dolphins were both sister parks to Gulf World. While Gulf World’s four rough toothed dolphins arrived at the independent nonprofit facility Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) on 4 June, one day after Riveron’s plan for the bottlenose was submitted to NOAA, these four still remain under ownership of The Dolphin Company. It’ll be interesting to see how CMA, a rescue facility, reacts if four dolphins are sold while under its custody.
Under Riveron’s 3 June request, Sandi, Comet, Capri, and Soleil would be moved to Marineland Dolphin Adventure, while Luna, Cajun, and Striker would be moved to Dolphin Connection. The reason given for the move was this:
The emergency transport is requested due to an unexpected dolphin fatality at the Gulf World facility has caused us to cease operations, and we need to evaluate the condition of the infrastructure that houses the dolphins. To do so, we need to relocate all of the marine mammals so that they have a safe living environment while we complete our assessment.
Transports took place 10 June, along with the transport of an eighth dolphin, Boomer, from Dolphin Connection to the Miami Seaquarium:
The emergency transport is requested due to an unexpected dolphin fatality at the Gulf World facility has caused us to cease operations, and transport dolphins to other facilities. Boomer would be a better fit, socially, at the Miami Seaquarium and Boomer will have better social counterparties at the Miami Seaquarium. The requested transport of the three bottlenose dolphins from Gulf World to Dolphin Connection make the move for Boomer logistically ideal, since the equipment and team will be in place and available to assist with the move.
Sources tell us that shortly before the move, Boomer latched onto a guest and pulled them across the Dolphin Connection sea pen.
Note the misspellings of Comet and Marineland in the request submitted to NOAA by Riveron.
So now, the bottlenose, which are of higher monetary value than the rough tooths, are all at facilities owned by The Dolphin Company. And the operations and assets of those facilities, assets including the animals, will soon be auctioned off to pay off The Dolphin Company’s debt.
Yes, instead of being moved to facilities not under the control of the owner, they were moved to other facilities managed by the company as if they were cattle being moved to an auction house.
The question is: who will buy them and where will they go? There’s still high demand for trained dolphins, especially those trained for swim programs, in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean, where animal welfare protections may not be as stringent as the United States.
In Part II: A wild denizen of the waters off Panama City Beach is captured for a theme park on the other side of the world and a boat full of tourists is there to witness the event.
