| Theater of the Sea | |
|---|---|
 Front entrance | |
| 24°56′40″N 80°36′13″W / 24.944575°N 80.603685°W | |
| Location | Islamorada, Florida, United States |
| Land area | 17 acres (6.9 ha) |
| Website | theaterofthesea |
Theater of the Sea, established in 1946, is a marine mammal park located in the Village of Islamorada, Florida, United States. It is a tourist attraction located on Windley Key in the Florida Keys. Visitors can swim with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, and sting rays and nurse sharks. Dolphins swim in and jump through a hoop and ring a bell. The 17-acre (6.9 ha) site also has exotic birds, lizards, crocodilians, sea turtles, tropical, game fish, sharks, and other forms of marine life. Short cruises and bottomless boat rides are also conducted.
The park also engages in ecological conservation programs, including the first artificial flipper transplant on a sea turtle.
History
The property on which Theater of the Sea sits was formerly a quarry used to supply rock for construction of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad. When the railroad went bankrupt after the devastating Labor Day Hurricane, the property was sold by the receivership to a local for $800 (having no interest in the property, the local was offered a parcel stretching to Whale Harbor, about 0.2 miles to the west, for the same $800).
Theater of the Sea opened in 1946.[1]
In 2020, the park has 7 bottlenose dolphins : Sherry (F), Stormy (M), Nikki (F), Kimbit (M), Sherman (M), Skipper (M) and Crystal (F).
References
- ↑ "Theater of the Sea: Since 1946". Theater of the Sea. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
External links
Media related to Theater of the Sea at Wikimedia Commons