Dolphin Research Center
| Dolphin Research Center | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | July 10, 1984 |
| Seat | Grassy Key , Florida , USA |
| Website | www.dolphins.org |
The Dolphin Research Center is a dolphinarium on Grassy Key , Florida . The 8400 m² area is home to dolphins and Californian sea lions . It conveys various kinds of experiences with dolphins. Visitors can swim with dolphins or take part in other interactive programs.
history
It opened in 1958 as Santini's Porpoise School , a dolphin school run by Milton Santini , who had previously worked as a fisherman and dolphin catcher. His dolphins starred in pinball films in 1963 and 1964 . The facility continued as Flipper's Sea School in 1972 . In 1977 Jean Paul Fortom-Gouin took over the facility and named it Institute for Delphinid Research . The facility was closed to the public.
When the whaling moratorium went into effect in 1983, Fortom-Gouin turned the business over to its manager and head coach, Jayne and Mandy Rodriguez. It reopened as today's Dolphin Research Center.
The site served as the location for the Flipper films and was the “Atlantic Dolphin Research” center in the “ Key West ” television series in the early 1990s.