Florida's Marineland turns 74-years-old

Posted | Contributed by Jeff

Now owned by the Georgia Aquarium, the world's first marine animal park opened 74 years ago, offering visitors previously unheard-of access to dolphins, whales and other creatures that roam the seas. For decades, the pioneering aquatic retreat thrived as Florida's only theme park, attracting as many as 400,000 visitors a year. But the Marineland of today is a very different scene. Operated by the aquarium as a separate nonprofit organization, it is located in a trio of nondescript off-white buildings battered by surf spray near the same spot where the original structures once stood, nestled between Fla. A1A and a postcard-ready section of the Atlantic Ocean.

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