Dolphins doing pirouettes in a water theme park — Courtesy: Shutterstock — cfg1978
Despite its unintended nature, Florida’s first theme park has managed to overcome the intimidating presence of its more modern Orlando contemporaries and remains a haven for tourists seeking marine education.
If you head northeast on Florida’s A1A about eighteen miles south of St. Augustine, you’ll pass Marineland Dolphin Adventure, a seemingly deserted tourist attraction.
Reportedly dubbed “the world’s first oceanarium,” it is located in the little town of the same name.
“Back in 1938, you know, underwater cameras hadn’t been invented yet,” McGinnis continued. “There was no such thing as scuba diving. As a result, getting underwater film for movies was almost impossible.”
But the designers of Marineland, Douglas Burden, Ilya Tolstoy, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, intended to revolutionize the motion picture business by building underwater tanks below earth. They had a slogan, “Bring the sea ashore,” according to McGinnis.
They chose a region of Florida that, in McGinnis’s words, was “relatively free of hurricanes,” and it was close to Jacksonville, a city that had formerly been a significant hub for the film industry.
Marineland is situated on a barrier island that is sufficiently narrow to permit boat docking on the Intracoastal Waterway across A1A and construction on its coastline.
The grand opening was met with an unexpected turnout of about 30,000 people, even though McGinnis said that little tourist was expected.
“I think it was on that very opening day when they started really listening to people’s comments that they kind of flipped their business plan from being a film studio that occasionally welcomes tourists to being a tourist attraction that occasionally makes movies,” McGinnis said.
A number of motion pictures and television shows had been filmed at Marine Studios, even though by then it had entirely changed into Marineland. One such show was the 1955 sequel to “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “Revenge of the Creature.”
Marineland was “one of the original roadside attractions,” according to McGinnis. It was named the first oceanarium—the phrase meaning “mixed species together.”
This is not the case in Marineland and the surrounding area, despite the fact that construction along Florida’s coast has significantly increased since Marineland arrived.
Currently, Marineland experiences allows guests to play and swim with dolphins. There are summer programs and day camps available for children to learn about marine biology.
Furthermore, according to McGinnis, it has a “sweet old Florida charm to it that a lot of other areas have lost.”
“And in our little town of Marineland, all the other few businesses that are there are all in some way connected to marine science and marine research and conservation,” McGinnis added. “So, there’s this neat kind of ocean theme to everything there.”
The community was established two years after Marineland debuted.
“The growth of the park as a popular place for visitors to experience marine life up close led to the incorporation of the town of Marineland in 1940,” the municipality’s website reads.
In its political framework, there is only one mayor and one commissioner. In the town, there are five employees.
As to the latest data obtainable from the US Census Bureau, there are 15 individuals residing in Marineland.
Fox News Digital reached out to the town to request a statement.
“I don’t even know if this is true anymore, but for a long time, we always said we’re the only town where there are more dolphin residents than human residents,” McGinnis commented.
Marineland used to be Florida’s most popular tourist destination, according to McGinnis.
But most tourists these days are concentrated in and around Orlando, where SeaWorld and Walt Disney World have substantially disrupted Marineland’s income.
Regarding the ability to attract new customers, McGinnis said, “there have certainly been ups and downs”.
According to McGinnis, the reason Marineland is still open 86 years later is “because we have constantly adapted.”
“And the truth is, we will never be one of those big facilities, one of those really showy facilities,” McGinnis continued. “So, we’re not where you should come if that’s what you want.”
But, Marineland is just that, according to McGinnis, for people looking to visit a “sweet, small, affordable, beautiful facility.”
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
