History of Marineland of the Pacific

History of Marineland of the Pacific

Marineland of the Pacific, which opened in 1954, for many years provided the primary tourist attraction in Rancho Palos Verdes. The attractions of Marineland included the 320-foot Skytower, the splashy acrobatics of Orky and Corky the killer whales, Bubbles the pilot whale, and snorkeling the curved, faux-rocky recesses of Baja Reef. Marineland was only the second oceanarium in the United States when it opened to the public Aug. 28, 1954. The first was Marine Studios in Florida.

Marineland’s first owner, Oceanarium Inc., owned by Henry Harris, hoped to capitalize on that popularity. On the cliffs overlooking the ocean, his team built two enormous oceanarium tanks — both three stories tall — a restaurant, a 12-unit motel, offices and laboratories. On the beach below, they built a 250-foot-long pier to help bring in the animals.

In 1957, they caught Bubbles, a 12-foot-long, 1,600-pound female pilot whale — the first ever caught and kept alive in captivity. Ticket sales went through the roof. The craze boosted ticket sales past 1 million that year, which allowed owners to build a $500,000 sea lion and dolphin stadium in 1958.Bubbles was eventually joined by other pilot whales named Squirt and Bimbo.

Sea Hunt, a television series which ran from 1958 to 1961 starring Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson was initially filmed primarily at Marineland, and in fact, the show’s character Mike Nelson was an ex-Navy frogman employed by Marineland. But over time, as Disneyland opened in 1955 and Sea World San Diego was built in 1964, the theme park competition took a toll on Marineland, and attendance plateaued. Still, park owners continued to add more new attractions. The Sky Tower was erected in 1966.

The park got a boost in 1968 when it captured Orky, its first killer whale, who was soon joined by Corky. But by the early 1970s, the competition was getting more and more fierce, and ticket sales were dwindling. Marineland’s original shareholders brought in 20th Century Fox as park operators. The park was then sold in 1978 to the owners of Hollywood Park in Inglewood. 20th Century Fox soon pulled out as operator of the park, and Hollywood Park brought in Hanna-Barberra as park operator.

The enactment of the Marine Protection Act of 1972 also made it illegal to capture any new animals from the wild, so the park and others like it expanded their breeding programs. Eventually, the costs associated with the park’s breeding program and marine animal-care center were outweighing ticket sales.

Marineland closed in December1986 when Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, which owned Sea World in San Diego, purchased Marineland, ostensibly to continue to operate it. Their intent, however, was to purchase Marineland solely to acquire Corky and Orky, a successful breeding pair of killer whales. After moving the killer whales in the middle of the night with no notice, the park abruptly closed in February 1987.

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