What will happen to the animals at the Miami Seaquarium amid a possible eviction?

MIAMI – With Miami-Dade County sending the owners of the Miami Seaquarium an eviction letter Monday, Local 10 News is trying to answer your questions about what could happen to the animals at the marine park.

The deadline for the park owners to vacate the property came and went on Sunday, while the park continued as normal on Monday.

The owners plan to fight any eviction.

‘The animals belong to the company’

During a March 7 press conference where Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Commissioner Raquel Regalado announced the county’s decision to terminate the lease of Miami Seaquarium operator, the Dolphin Company, the mayor told Christina Vazquez of Local 10: “To be clear, the animals belong to the company, they do not belong to the province.”

The county, she said, “does not have the ability to intervene at this time, only the U.S. Department of Agriculture can do that.” She confirmed that the Dolphin Company, as owners of the animals, could transfer the animals to other parks in its portfolio.

Regalado added that as far as they understand it, it also “depends on the animal,” because “some of them are outright owned, some are rented out, and some may return to their leasehold property.”

On Monday, Holly of SoFlo Animal Rights told Local 10 News that she finds it “frustrating” that the Dolphin Company, as the owner of the animals, is able to, in her words, “trade” them to other facilities.

“We know it’s very complicated,” she said of the intersection the animals have with different federal regulators based on species, “but ultimately what’s so sad is that the animals are just property, so even if they close and the animals are being removed it’s still sad but still the only good thing is that it would be one less marine park so it means a change in public opinion so that’s something to celebrate but right now its we sad.

Contingency plans

During an April 12 interview with Local 10 News, Miami-Dade County Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales said the county is working on contingency plans in case the Dolphin Company were to abandon animals when it eventually leaves the property.

These plans include working with federal partners who exercise jurisdiction and oversight over certain animals, as well as assessing provincial resources where permitted, such as Zoo Miami.

Dolphin Company officials say they plan to stay.

Federal regulatory agencies

Over the past year, federal agencies also decided to transport some of the animals at the Miami Seaquarium to other facilities.

In those cases, it would be the decision of the federal agency and the private partner taking in the animal, not Miami-Dade County.

For example, in August 2023, following the death of beloved orca Lolita, two of Lolita’s dolphin companions, Loke and Elelo, were brought to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

A spokesperson for that institute said at the time that it was “responding to an urgent need to provide sanctuary for two Pacific white-sided dolphins… from the Miami Seaquarium, who live in inadequate environmental conditions. The transport of 40-year-old female dolphin Loke and her 5-year-old son Elelo to Shedd’s 3-million-gallon cold-water habitat took place on August 3 under authorization from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office. of protected resources.”

A month later, Lolita’s third dolphin companion, Li’i, Elelo’s father, was transferred from the Miami Seaquarium to SeaWorld San Antonio.

A SeaWorld spokesperson told Local 10 News in a press release that “the expedited transport of this 40-year-old male dolphin to AZA-accredited SeaWorld San Antonio occurred on September 24, 2023 under authorization from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. ”

In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed it was working with “an experienced team of manatee rescue and rehabilitation experts to assist with the transport of manatees from Miami Seaquarium.”