Bankruptcies & liquidations, with sanctuaries not a here-and-now option
MEXICO CITY, Mexico; MIAMI, Florida––Not entirely by coincidence, the Mexican-owned Dolphin Company, owner of 30 dolphinariums worldwide, is bankrupt; the Miami Seaquarium, recently operated by The Dolphin Company, appears to be at the end of 70 years of marine mammal exhibition; and the Mexican Chamber of Deputies on June 25, 2025 adopted legislation prohibiting the most lucrative parts of the marine mammal exhibition industry.
The new Mexican law, explained Cara Sands, Canadian representative for longtime dolphin freedom advocate Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, bans captive breeding of marine mammals, holding marine mammals in concrete tanks, and allowing humans to have physical contact with dolphins during swim-with-dolphins sessions.
O’Barry, 85, a former Miami Seaquarium dolphin trainer, has been campaigning for dolphin liberation from zoos and aquariums since 1970.
Mexican law requires relocation to sea pens
“The reform was already passed by the Mexican Senate,” Sands noted.
What it means, Sands said, is that “Dolphins currently kept in concrete tanks must be relocated to sea pens within 18 months.”
While captive breeding of endangered or threatened species is still allowed for conservation purposes,” Sands acknowledged, “Clear protocols must be established to prevent captive breeding otherwise.
“Only supervised diving or parallel swimming is allowed,” at swim-with-dolphins facilities.
In addition, Mexican marine mammal exhibitors “must submit a full inventory [of marine mammals in their possession] including species, age, microchip number, dorsal fin photo ID, etc. to the Ministry of Environment within 90 days,” Sands said.
“The law takes effect the day after publication in the Official Gazette,” Sands added.
Shows suspended
“This legislative victory comes just weeks after shows were suspended at a controversial dolphinarium in the Riviera Maya, following public outrage and pressure from campaigners,” said a June 27, 2025 media release from World Animal Protection, formerly the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
The Riviera Maya dolphinarium was one of 12 in Mexico owned by The Dolphin Company.
“Over 300 dolphins have been exploited in Mexican facilities in recent decades,” World Animal Protection said, as one among many animal advocacy organizations claiming credit for winning passage of the new legislation.
“Mexico joins Costa Rica and Chile as one of only three Latin American countries to ban dolphin shows and captive breeding of cetaceans,” World Animal Protection observed.
“In Spain,” World Animal Protection said, “while wild animals have been banned from circuses, dolphinariums continue to operate.”
Dolphin Company failure leaves 30 dolphinariums in limbo
The Dolphin Company, also doing business as Dolphin Discovery, declared bankruptcy in Mexico in February 2025 and in the U.S. a month later.
(See The Dolphin Company, owners of 30-31 dolphinariums, goes bust and The Dolphin Company & SeaQuest: sharing “encounters” & bankruptcy.)
Dolphin Company holdings included, in addition to the dozen Mexican dolphinariums, others in Grand Cayman, British West Indies; St. Kitts, British West Indies; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and Yaaman, in Jamaica.
Within the U.S., Dolphin Company facilities included the Miami Seaquarium; Marineland, in St. Augustine, Florida; Dolphin Connection, on Duck Key in Florida; and Gulf World, in Panama City Beach, Florida.
(The Dolphin Company photo)
Dolphin Company properties up for sale
“New Seaquarium owners secure control, plan to break up Dolphin Company’s marine park properties,” headlined the Key Biscayne Independent on June 16, 2025.
Explained editor-in-chief Tony Winton, “After wresting control of an international network of marine tourist attractions, the new owners of the Miami Seaquarium are asking permission to put all of the Dolphin Company businesses up for sale, according to court papers.
“Fearing that legal chaos may have contributed to the death of a dolphin named Samira at Panama City’s Gulf World Marine Park,” Winton added, “U.S. bankruptcy judge Laurie Selber Silverstein held the former Dolphin Company chief executive, Eduardo Albor, in contempt of court on June 5, 2025. The judge threatened fines of $10,000 a day if Albor failed to cooperate with the new management team led by Steven Strom and Robert Wagstaff. She found that Albor had interfered with the new administration.
“Going concern” & “real estate” categories
“Florida attorney general James Uthmeier announced [in May 2025] that he was opening a criminal investigation into the Gulf World attraction as well as the parent company,” Winton continued, noting that “Albor has challenged his ouster as chief executive officer in Mexican courts, but Judge Silverstein said no court in that country has agreed with him so far.
“The new management team,” meanwhile, according to Winton, “asked the judge for permission to hire two different firms to split the network of companies up and start an auction process,” apparently including all 30 Dolphin Company facilities in the eight nations in which it operated.
Winton disclosed that, “The debtors have formed an initial view as to which of their properties fall into ‘going concern’ and ‘real estate’ categories,’” wrote Robert Wagstaff, the chief restructuring officer. “In order to maximize the pool of suitors for these properties, the debtors expect these properties to be marketed.”
Miami Seaquarium & Gulf World
Gulf World was categorized as real estate. The Miami Seaquarium was not listed, since the land it occupies belongs to Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade County “has an eviction proceeding pending,” Winton mentioned. “Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has said she wants to close [the Seaquarium] and use the property for something else. The eviction case was put on hold because of the [Dolphin Company] bankruptcy.”
Gulf World, “Amid a criminal probe for a string of dolphin deaths,” recently transferred “seven bottlenose dolphins and four rough-toothed dolphins to three separate facilities in Florida: Marineland Dolphin Adventure in St. Augustine, Dolphin Connection in Duck Key, and Clearwater Marine Aquarium,” opened Animal Welfare Institute marine mammalogist Naomi Rose in a June 19, 2025 guest column for the Tampa Bay Times.
How permanent the transfers to Marineland Dolphin Adventure and Dolphin Connection in Duck Key will be, Rose questioned, since these facilities are also owned by The Dolphin Company.
Where to retire dolphins is international problem
“In France,” Rose noted, “where the country’s last two dolphinariums have been ordered to export their remaining cetaceans by 2026, a dozen bottlenose dolphins and two orcas are languishing at the shuttered Marineland Antibes — under the care of a skeletal staff — while they await their fate.
“In Canada, where the government banned cetacean displays in 2019, the sole remaining dolphinarium has been struggling to sell its property and ‘expeditiously’ remove an estimated 30 belugas and four dolphins, after the facility’s long-time owner [John Holer] died.
“Since 2019,” Rose recounted, “18 belugas have died at Marineland Canada (neither affiliated with Marineland Antibes nor Marineland Dolphin Adventure). The facility has been investigated for deplorable animal welfare conditions.
(Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project photo)
“Not as simple as placing them back in the ocean”
“Unfortunately,” Rose acknowledged, “relocating these animals is not as simple as placing them back in the ocean. Frankly, it is unlikely most could return to a life of independence in the wild, although it might be possible for some.
“As for wildlife sanctuaries,” Rose wrote, “while we can always buy land and humanely retire chimpanzees, bears and tigers, it is impossible to purchase the ocean. We must secure permission from government authorities to use clean, safe, large areas of coastline, which is no easy task.
“Eventually, there may be several operational seaside sanctuaries for former cetacean entertainers,” Rose hoped, “but realistically, only a small percentage of the global population of approximately 3,000 captive cetaceans will ever be accommodated this way.
Sanctuary plans are small compared to numbers in need
“I serve on the board of the Whale Sanctuary Project, which seeks to set up a sanctuary for 8 to 15 cold-water whales and dolphins in Nova Scotia, Canada,” Rose mentioned.
“The world’s first and only seaside sanctuary, located in Iceland, currently holds only two belugas.
“That leaves the majority of captive cetaceans with nowhere to go. But if the dolphinarium community cooperates and shifts from optimizing visitor experience to maximizing animal welfare,” Rose suggested, “we can work together to improve their lives.”
The Rose commentary drew a quick critical rejoinder from Marine Mammal Conservancy founder Rick Trout, of Key West, Florida, who remembered that Rose “was instrumental” in the 1994 failure of the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary.
But even if the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary scheme had succeeded, it too was small compared to the size of the problem.
(See Marine mammal activist Mark “The Bermanator” Berman, 63 and The Ric O’Barry prequels to “The Cove” and “Blackfish”.)
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Excellent article – BUT NOW WHAT !? If i was to win Lotto this week it wouldn’t nearly be enuf to help them all – It’s all about money now
Will “sanctuaries” be tourism research prisons by the aquarium industry and others?
As with everyone, of every species, who is no longer needed/profitable, the fate of these mammals, who may be more intelligent than humans in some ways (not difficult for me to imagine, looking around!) also depends upon those who placed them in uncertain situations in the first place.
Sharing with gratitude and hope.
Because all those who seek to profit off animals rarely have a long-term plan that includes an exit strategy that would benefit the animals.