Theater of the Sea, established in 1946, is a

marine mammal park A marine mammal park (also known as marine animal park and sometimes oceanarium) 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 ...

located in the Village of

Islamorada Islamorada (also sometimes Islas Morada) is an incorporated village in Monroe County, Florida. It is located directly between Miami and Key West on five islands— Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plant ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. It is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

attraction located on

Windley Key Windley Key is an island in the upper Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) crosses it at approximately mile markers 84–85.5, between Plantation Key and Upper Matecumbe Key. All of the key is within ...

in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

. Visitors can swim with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins,

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...

s, and

sting ray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

s and

nurse shark The nurse shark (''Ginglymostoma cirratum'') is an elasmobranch fish in the family Ginglymostomatidae. The conservation status of the nurse shark is globally assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. They are considered t ...

s. Dolphins swim in and jump through a hoop and ring a bell. The site also has exotic birds, lizards, crocodilians, sea turtles, tropical, game fish, sharks, and other forms of marine life. Short

cruise A cruise is any travel on a cruise ship. Cruise or Cruises may also refer to: Tourism * Booze cruise * Music cruise * River cruise Aeronautics and aircraft * Cruise (aeronautics), a distinct stage of an aircraft's flight * Aviasouz Cruise, a R ...

s and bottomless boat rides are also conducted. The park also engages in

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

programs, including the first artificial flipper transplant on a

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

History

Tursiops truncatus -Theatre of the Sea -USA -Jumping-8a

The property on which Theater of the Sea sits was formerly a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

used to supply rock for construction of

Henry Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founde ...

Overseas Railroad The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, Florida, Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula ...

. When the railroad went bankrupt after the devastating

Labor Day Hurricane The Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 was the most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall on record by pressure, with winds of up to 185 mph (297 km/h). The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and se ...

, the property was sold by the receivership to a local for $800 (having no interest in the property, the local was offered a parcel stretching to Whale Harbor, about 0.2 miles to the west, for the same $800). Theater of the Sea opened in 1946. In 2020, the park has 7 bottlenose dolphins : Sherry (F), Stormy (M), Nikki (F), Kimbit (M), Sherman (M), Skipper (M) and Crystal (F).

References

External links

* Tourist attractions in the Florida Keys Dolphinariums Buildings and structures in Monroe County, Florida Zoos in Florida Islamorada, Florida 1946 establishments in Florida {{zoo-stub