| Location | Arlington, Texas, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°45′24″N97°04′54″W / 32.7566748°N 97.0817185°W |
| Status | Defunct |
| Opened | March 18, 1972 |
| Closed | 1976 |
| Area | 35 acres (14 ha) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 1 |
| Roller coasters | 0 |
  | |
Seven Seas Marine Life Park was a marine mammal park, and animal theme park built and owned by the city of Arlington, Texas, United States. It opened in March 1972, but ended up closing in 1976 after losing millions of dollars.
Plans to build the park were made as early as 1971, with costs estimating around $6.7 million. [1] In April 1971, a landscaping project proposal passed, funding a local landscaping company $7,702 to provide 195,000 square feet of Bermuda grass for the park, and $3,121 to prune 1,000 trees growing there. [2] It was 70% complete in early April. [3]
During construction in 1970, several marine life fossils aged at around 100 million years were found at the site. [4]
The park opened on March 18, 1972. [5] The 35 acres (14 ha) site was located in north Arlington off Interstate 30 near Six Flags Over Texas and adjacent to Arlington Stadium.
The park lost almost half a million dollars in 1972, 1973 and 1974 and after the 1975 season, the animals were sold. The park reopened for the 1976 season as Hawaii Kai. The attendance for that season was at an all-time low and the city council of Arlington voted to close the park because it did not generate enough revenue to both pay its operating expenses and pay off the bonded indebtedness. [6] [7]
The property is now the site of the Arlington Sheraton Hotel and has several buildings on the property that date back to the park. In addition, there is a remaining piece from the Japan garden, a very nice, large bridged Pagoda still exists outside the hotels court pool area.
Other animals that resided in the park also include a chimpanzee, three harbor seals, otters, a rescued caiman croc, two Himalayan black bears, at least seven sharks, a sea turtle named Tom, flamingos, macaws, toucans, ducks, geese and thousands of koi and goldfish.
The orca, or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, they are found in diverse marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas.
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity, but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes. A study prepared for International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2009 estimated that 13 million people went whale watching globally in 2008. Whale watching generates $2.1 billion per annum in tourism revenue worldwide, employing around 13,000 workers. The size and rapid growth of the industry has led to complex and continuing debates with the whaling industry about the best use of whales as a natural resource.
The toothed whales are a clade of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales with teeth, such as beaked whales and the sperm whales. 73 species of toothed whales are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya).
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks host shows starring marine mammals, especially dolphins and pinnipeds, as well as zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.
A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins perform for the public, others are part of larger parks, such as marine mammal parks, zoos or theme parks, with other animals and attractions as well.
Marineland is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It is operating on a reduced scale while it is slated for redevelopment. No amusement rides are operating and it is claimed that all land animals have been transferred from the facility, however videos in 2024 showed large numbers of deer and some bears still on site. The park continues to exhibit dolphins and beluga whales.
Sealand of the Pacific was a public aquarium in South Oak Bay at the Oak Bay Marina, near the city of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. It housed a number of orcas: Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum. In 1991, all three were involved in an incident in which a trainer, Keltie Byrne, was killed. The aquarium subsequently closed and sold its orcas to SeaWorld.
Tommy Joe Vandergriff was a politician from Texas. He served as Mayor of Arlington from 1951 to 1977, as a U.S. Representative from Texas's 26th congressional district from 1983 to 1985, and as County Judge of Tarrant County from 1991 to 2007. For the greater part of his life, Vandergriff was a Democrat, but he became a Republican around 1990.
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.
The Marineland of Antibes is a theme park founded in 1970 by Count Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. Covering 26 hectares, it includes a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (Aquasplash), a children's play park, mini golf and a hotel. It is the property of the Spanish multinational company Parques Reunidos, whose main shareholder are the investment funds EQT Partners and Elliott Management. Since 2017, the director is Pascal Picot.
Mundo Marino is the largest aquarium in Argentina. It is located in San Clemente del Tuyú, Argentina.
Orcas are large, powerful aquatic apex predators. There have been incidents where orcas were perceived to attack humans in the wild, but such attacks are less common than those by captive orcas. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. Experts are divided as to whether the injuries and deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.
Dozens of orcas are held in captivity for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness, and sheer size. As of 24 March 2024, around 55 orcas are in captivity worldwide, 33 of which were captive-born. At that time, there were 18 orcas in the SeaWorld parks.
Orcas, also known as Killer whales, have appeared in several movies and many documentaries.
Dawn Therese Brancheau was an American animal trainer at SeaWorld. She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the Shamu show, and was SeaWorld's poster girl. She was killed by an orca, Tilikum, who was also involved in the deaths of Keltie Byrne and Daniel P. Dukes.
Shamu was the stage name used for several performing orcas at SeaWorld
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is a theme park situated in Hengqin, Zhuhai, People's Republic of China. It was designed by PGAV Destinations. The park broke ground on November 28, 2010 and soft-opened on January 28, 2014. The grand opening occurred on March 29 of that year. The first phase of the park cost RMB 10 billion to build. It is part of the Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort, which aims to become the "Orlando of China". In 2023 the park hosted 12.52 million visitors, making it the sixth-most visited theme park in the world and the most visited theme park in the world that is not a Disney or Universal park.
Kamogawa Sea World is a large scale comprehensive marine leisure center/museum equivalent facility located between the Tojo coast and the national highway No. 128 in Kamogawa city, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is not affiliated with SeaWorld in any way and is operated by Granvista Hotels & Resorts Co., Ltd. it is a public aquarium and is also a member of Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA). In 2021, the park celebrated the 50th anniversary of its opening. The aquarium is accredited as a Museum-equivalent facilities by the Museum Act from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Sea-Arama Marineworld was the marine mammal park on the gulf coast, located in Galveston Island, Texas, United States. Opening in 1965, The park was an animal-focused oceanarium, zoo, and aquarium that attracted hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. The park worked with wildlife experts to study Ridley sea turtles, support brown pelican nesting, and treat/rehabilitate marine life.
