Florida marine park files for bankruptcy amid animal welfare probe over multiple dolphin deaths
Wildlife authorities have been investigating the Gulf World Marine Park after four dolphins have died within the last six months.
A marine park in Florida has dramatically filed for bankruptcy following an ongoing federal investigation into the deaths of multiple captive dolphins.
Concerns surrounding the animal welfare conditions at the Gulf World Marine Park had been mounting for months.
Four dolphin deaths have been reported since October 2024, and drone footage from a campaign group released earlier this month highlighted how the dolphins are kept in small, concrete pools with visibly murky water.
Public outrage over these recent reports led to wildlife authorities from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to visit the park on March 22, 2025. However, the park’s staff are said to have denied access for officials to conduct a wellness check on the dolphin enclosures, with park staff saying that the enclosures are under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
This refusal resulted in a public intervention from Attorney General James Uthmeier, who then issued a search warrant just days later for the FWC to return to the park alongside the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to continue the investigation.
Now amid the ongoing investigation, the park’s owners, The Dolphin Company, have filed for bankruptcy.
The Mexico-based business calls itself “the world’s leading dolphin company,” and owns the Gulf World Marine Park as part of its large portfolio of thirty theme parks and marine parks across eight countries.
On March 31, The Dolphin Company announced it has voluntarily filed Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The business hopes that the move will help it restructure its financial difficulties and allow for operations to continue.
In a press statement, the company’s director Steven Strom said “a high priority throughout the business is ensuring safe environments for all animals.”
But many animal welfare groups have repeatedly called out the company for its mistreatment of marine animals.
Just this month, a dolphin at the Gulf World Marine Park was killed when they landed headfirst into a shallow area of the pool while performing tricks to the public.
The fatal incident was the fourth dolphin death at the park in recent months, following three dolphins who were reported dead in October last year.
Welfare groups say the park’s conditions are dangerously inadequate.
“The conditions at Gulf World are among the worst we’ve ever observed,” Phil Demers, the executive director of advocacy group Urgent Seas, told The Guardian.
Demers is a former marine mammal trainer-turned-activist who previously worked with captive orcas, beluga whales, and dolphins. But a powerful bond with a walrus named Smooshi during his career at MarineLand in Canada led Demers to become a whistleblower of animal cruelty and he now speaks out against marine animal captivity.
The activist released drone footage this month that alerted the public on how the conditions at the park have continued to deteriorate and how the marine animals are kept in small, murky pools.
"The animals at Gulf World need to be moved to safety immediately before more die," Valerie Greene, a former trainer of 11 years at SeaWorld Orlando, told USA TODAY. "They need to go to safe and clean facilities that are not owned or operated by The Dolphin Company ... Simply put, Gulf World needs to be closed. The park is so dilapidated that it's past the point of salvaging."
It is not yet known if or how the bankruptcy will affect The Dolphin Company’s other facilities, which include US parks like Dolphin Connection in Duck Key and the Miami Seaquarium.
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