Milton Santini
Milton Santini (* 1913 ; † 1994 ) was an American fisherman and dolphin trainer . He is considered a pioneer in the field of training and keeping dolphins.
Life
Milton Santini was born in 1913. He worked as a mackerel fisherman and dolphin catcher. His experience with the marine mammals led Santini to build the dolphin enclosure Santini's Porpoise Training School on Grassy Key in 1958 and to train dolphins.
On one of his fishing trips he caught Mitzi, who later became famous as a pinball machine. Mitzi got the lead role in Flipper (1963) and in the sequel New Adventure with Flipper (1964). The film was shot in the Florida Keys and was followed by the famous television series of the same name .
After Mitzi's death in 1972, Santini sold the facility. It was continued as the "Flippers Sea School". Jean-Paul Gouin took over Santini's legacy in 1977 as the "Institute for Delphinid Research". Gouin finished his research in 1984 and turned his facility over to his manager Jayne Shannon and his head coach Mandy Rodriguez. Since 1984 “Santini's Porpoise Training School” has been the “ Dolphin Research Center ”.
Milton Santini died in 1994.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Santini, Milton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American dolphin trainer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1913 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1994 |