 Aerial view of the Aquatarium on a 1960s postcard | |
| Location | St. Pete Beach, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°44′05″N82°44′58″W / 27.7347228°N 82.7494410°W |
| Status | Closed |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Closed | 1977 |
The Aquatarium (also known as Shark World) was a 17-acre tourist attraction located in St. Pete Beach, Florida. It operated from 1964 to 1977, between 64th and 66th avenues.
The Aquatarium opened in 1964, with its main attraction being shows featuring trained dolphins, sea lions, and pilot whales. [1] Shows were staged under a 160-foot, golden geodesic dome, which sheltered the audience as they were seated around the world's largest circular marine tank [2] (100 feet in diameter, 25 feet deep, containing 1.244 million gallons of seawater). [3] The Aquatarium shows were billed as "The World's Greatest Marine Show," or "World's Largest Marine Attraction," and starred a dolphin named "Floppy." Floppy was famed for her 25-foot leaps into the air, leading to her characterization as "the world-champion high-jumping dolphin." [4]
In 1968, the Aquatarium was bought purchased by local hotelier Frank Cannova for two million dollars. [5] [6] In 1974, Cannova opened The Hawaiian Inn. [7]
Due to the 1971 opening of Walt Disney World, as well as the gasoline shortages of the mid-1970s, tourism in Pinellas County experienced a significant decline. In 1976, in order to combat the declining fortunes of the park, the owners (inspired by the popularity of the 1975 film Jaws ) attempted to rebrand the Aquatarium as "Shark World". Despite their efforts, the park closed at the end of the 1977 summer season. [8] [9]
Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, which makes it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city in the county, as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the largest city in the state that is not a county seat. Along with Clearwater, these cities are part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-largest in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million. St. Petersburg is on the Pinellas peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected to mainland Florida to the north.
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 117,292. Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County and is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is the fifth largest city in Pinellas County. The population was 36,068 as of the 2020 census.
Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg, South Pasadena, and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 12,029 at the 2010 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan statistical area.
Tropicana Field is a multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The stadium has been the ballpark of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the team's inaugural season in 1998. The stadium is also used for college football, and from December 2008 to December 2017 was the home of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual postseason bowl game. The venue is the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball, making it the only year-round indoor venue in MLB. Tropicana Field is the smallest MLB stadium by seating capacity when obstructed-view rows in the uppermost sections are covered with tarps as they are for most Rays games.
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater inflow into the bay is the Hillsborough River, which flows into Hillsborough Bay in downtown Tampa. Many other smaller rivers and streams also flow into Tampa Bay, resulting in a large watershed area.
Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than 11 million US gallons (42,000 m3) of water. It was the largest aquarium in the world from its opening in 2005 until 2012 when it was surpassed by the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore and the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China; the Georgia Aquarium remains the largest aquarium in the United States and the fifth largest in the world.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Marineland of Florida, one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the public on March 4, 2006. In 2011, the park was purchased by the Georgia Aquarium for a reported $9.1 million.
Ocean Park Hong Kong, commonly known as Ocean Park, is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park and amusement park situated in Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan in the Southern District of Hong Kong. It is the second largest theme park in Hong Kong, after Hong Kong Disneyland, as well as the largest theme park in Hong Kong by area. It is also the second oldest theme park in Hong Kong, after the now-defunct Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park which closed on 31 March 1997, four months before the 1997 handover.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends is a pavilion located in the World Nature section of Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The pavilion is themed as an oceanic exploration base called SeaBase Alpha, with several exhibits devoted to oceanic study. The building includes an aquarium and its attached dark ride attraction, a talk show-type attraction called Turtle Talk with Crush, and the Coral Reef Restaurant. With 5.7 million US gallons of tank volume, the pavilion is also the second-largest aquarium in the U.S. and the sixth-largest in the world.
An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks.
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park. While its name includes the City of Orlando, the park complex is actually located in Unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbors Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Orlando, an entertainment complex consisting of the three parks and many hotels. In 2018, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.594 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
A marine mammal park is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also features other marine mammals and offers additional entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a combination of a public aquarium and an amusement park. Marine mammal parks are different from marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs, particularly in Australia.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 between San Francisco and Sacramento. The park includes a variety of roller coasters and other amusement rides. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has been part of the Six Flags chain of amusement parks since 1999.
Winter was a bottlenose dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida, United States, and was widely known for having a prosthetic tail. Winter was the subject of the 2009 book Winter's Tale, the 2011 film Dolphin Tale, and its 2014 sequel.
The Hawaiian Inn was an inn located in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida.
Frank Santo Cannova Jr. was an American hotelier, businessman and entrepreneur.
St. Petersburg, Florida, held an election for mayor on August 24, 2021. Incumbent Democratic mayor Rick Kriseman was term-limited and could not seek a third term in office. Municipal elections in St. Petersburg are officially nonpartisan. All candidates appeared on the same primary ballot, and because no candidate garnered at least 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters advanced to a runoff election on November 2, 2021. Former Pinellas County commissioner Ken Welch easily defeated city councillor Robert Blackmon in the runoff and became the first black mayor of St. Petersburg.