LA's Own Marineland

Pt. 12: Marineland’s Legacy

In the twelfth and final episode of “LA’s Own Marineland,” [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/las-own-marineland/id1656600355] we take a look at the park’s legacy and follow up on the lives of the animals that were transferred to other parks after Marineland’s closure. Finally, we’ll get the last word on Marineland from those who know it best and loved it most, Marinelanders themselves. HOW DID KANDU THE KILLER WHALE DIE? Two years after Corky the killer whale [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/02/04/pt-6-eye-to-eye-with-orky-and-corky/] was transferred from Marineland to SeaWorld [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/04/02/pt-9-thieves-in-the-night/] San Diego, she was involved in one of the most tragic events to ever happen at a marine park. Corky was performing before thousands in the main show pool when, out of nowhere, Kandu swam out of the back holding pool and rammed into her full speed with her mouth open and then careened into a wall. The impact led to a fractured upper jaw, causing fatal hemorrhaging of major arteries in the whale’s nasal passages. After 45 minutes of struggling, Kandu sank to the bottom of the tank [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/us/performing-whale-dies-in-collision-with-another.html] and died. Orkid, Kandu’s calf sired by Orky, was handed off to her new caretaker, Corky. Kandu the killer whales death at SeaWorld in San Diego, California, 1989. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/fight.png?w=534] On Wednesday, March 8, 1995, over eight years after Marineland’s closure, real estate investor Jim York purchased the 102-acre property at an auction [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-15-me-50452-story.html] after its former owner James G. Monaghan [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/06/04/pt-11-trouble-at-seaworld/], declared bankruptcy. Monaghan owned the property for eight years with nothing to show but a ghost town. York, who lives in Rolling Hills estates, planned to build a 450-room hotel and oceanfront golf course on the property. On Monday, June 6, 1995, the 244-foot-tall Sky Tower [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-30-me-18829-story.html] that proudly stood near the entrance of Marineland and gave hundreds of thousands of people awe-inspiring views of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding area, was slowly dismantled. WHAT HAPPENED TO BUBBLES THE WHALE? On Thursday, June 9, 2016, Bubbles the pilot whale [https://www.dailybreeze.com/2016/06/11/bubbles-whale-that-performed-at-marineland-in-rancho-palos-verdes-dies/], who lived at Marineland from 1966 to 1987, died at the Dolphin Stadium in SeaWorld San Diego. At the time, Bubbles was the oldest pilot whale in captivity and was performing right up to the day she died in the “Dolphin Days” show. SeaWorld estimates she had performed for over 100 million people in her lifetime. Bubbles the pilot whale, performing at SeaWorld in San Diego. Photo by Stacina/Flickr. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bubbles.png?w=701] Thirty-five years after Marineland closed [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/05/09/pt-10-sunk/], it’s believed that just about all of Marineland’s animals have passed away. The only animals that are still alive are a few flamingos at SeaWorld and, of course, Corky the orca. WHAT HAPPENED TO CORKY THE KILLER WHALE? Corky the killer whale at SeaWorld in San Diego, California. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/corky.jpg?w=1024] At 57 years old, Corky is still a major part of the killer whale presentations at SeaWorld. To see how she’s doing, I checked in with Nicole Schriber, a marine biology student focusing on killer whale research and education who primarily works with orca populations on the coast of southcentral Alaska. She has close ties with the trainers at SeaWorld San Diego. “She’s doing very well, as far as I know, I’m not privy to all the vet information, but from what I see she has all her energy,” Schriber told the podcast. “She eats well and she’s the highest-flying senior citizen I know, I’ll tell you that. She is always enthusiastic and ready to go. So, despite being an old lady, she’s really really good for her age.” In June 2009, 22 and a half years after Marineland was closed, Jim York’s resort, Terranea finally opened [https://www.terranea.com/offers/stay-more-play-more?NCK=google-ppc&rt=google|cpc|TRN04-Terranea-Resort-Brand-California-15564-23793|terranea%20resort&gclid=CjwKCAjwu4WoBhBkEiwAojNdXveZEVqTzsDaqljOXzf4QZA_cypWjXzN6PjLcn1zMZY7U1zUvFSdsBoCTjsQAvD_BwE] on the former Marineland property. It’s a nearly $500 million, 582-room full-service hotel with a 9-hole golf course, 135,000 sq. ft of conference space, and facilities adequate to hold five weddings, simultaneously. We wrapped up the podcast by asking Marinelanders their final thoughts on what made the park so special. “I’ve worked in several other facilities since that time and I’m so privileged to have had the opportunity not only to work at Marineland but to start there because it really set my expectations really high. We were small, we were like a family,” Marineland killer whale trainer Gail Laule told the podcast. [https://www.oprah.com/relationships/what-pets-and-wild-animals-are-thinking-animals-and-emotions/all] “It was a really special place and that’s why people still think about it and want to talk about it and want to understand it. I think it was a real tragedy that Marineland disappeared.” It’s been said that the Pacific has a long memory. The water at its greatest depths has been around since the time of Charlemagne. I’d like to hope that on a warm summer’s evening, around sunset, some of those moments blown out to sea on the ocean breeze decades ago find their way back home. And if you stand on the cliffs of Terranea, close your eyes, and listen closely, you can hear the laughter of children, the mischievous bark of sea lions, and the joyous squeaks of killer whales wafting through the salty sea air. Those are the sounds of LA’s Own Marineland.

Pt. 11: Trouble at SeaWorld

Episode 11 of “LA’s Own Marineland,” follows the lives of killer whales Orky and Corky after they were moved [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/04/02/pt-9-thieves-in-the-night/] from Marineland to SeaWorld San Diego in 1987. We’ll also meet James Monaghan, the man who bought Marineland from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, and hear his plans for a new ocean-themed hotel. In May of 1987, Orky and Corky were moved from the smaller killer whale tank at SeaWorld San Diego to the new Shamu Stadium. At the time, Shamu Stadium [https://orcapod.fandom.com/wiki/Category:SeaWorld_San_Diego%27s_Tank_Dimensions] had four pools, including a 170-foot long by 80-foot wide and 35-foot-deep show pool. It has since been expanded to 6.7 million gallons. By comparison, the tank at Marineland [https://www.marinelandofthepacific.org/buildingarchitecture.html] was 80 feet by 80 feet and 22 feet deep and 640,000 gallons. However, even though Orky had a lot more space, it didn’t necessarily mean it was a better environment for him. But for Corky, it’s a situation in which she would seem to thrive. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/06/25/pt-12-marinelands-legacy/] “I worried for [Orky],” Marineland mammal trainer Gail Laue told the podcast. “I knew Corky would do great because they had the kind of system she would thrive in, and she does to this day. But it was not a system that Orky did well in.” On November 21, 1987, Orky was involved in a disturbing incident that nearly killed SeaWorld trainer John Silick. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8smgi460BQ] During a performance, Silick was reverse-riding a female orca when a 14,000-pound Orky breached and landed on top of him. The incident resulted in the firing of SeaWorld’s president Jan Schultz as well as the park’s chief zoologist, chief trainer, and spokeswoman. In August of 1987, James Monaghan [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-12-me-28507-story.html], who had recently purchased the remains of Marineland from HBJ, spoke to the Daily Breeze, dispelling rumors that he’s affiliated with HBJ or has similar intentions. The interview was conducted on-site at the former Marineland property where he showed the reporters his plans for the property. “Over there, where the whale tanks are is going to be the hotel,” he gestured to a reporter while riding the sky tower at the former Marineland site. “The dolphin stadium can be repurposed into an amphitheater, but the music’s not gonna annoy the neighbors. Baja Reef can stay. I have the best consultants in the nation on this project. We want to do the optimum job here.” WHEN WAS MARINELAND DEMOLISHED? On February 16, 1988, the Cleveland Wrecking Crew pulled up to the former Marineland site with a wrecking ball and pile drivers and began demolishing [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-17-me-29310-story.html] the abandoned major structures. The crew left the sky tower, Baja Reef attraction, and restaurant for potential use in the future development. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2022-07-14-16_17_47-marineland-of-the-pacific-rancho-palos-verdes-california-_-pvld.png?w=844] (Marineland demolition, C. 1988) WHEN DID ORKY THE KILLER WHALE DIE? Orky passed away [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-09-27-me-2544-story.html] on Monday, September 26, 1988, at the approximate age of 27 to 32 years at SeaWorld San Diego, 19 months after being moved from Marineland. According to the Los Angeles Times, he refused to eat that morning and two hours later, sank to the bottom of the tank. “He wasn’t interested in eating. He was swimming in tight circles in the center of the pool and appeared to be having some balance and respiratory problems, and then he very quickly sank to the bottom and died.” Jim Atrium, SeaWorld’s general curator, told the Los Angeles Times. According to SeaWorld records, before his death, Orky lost more than 4,000 pounds, almost a third of his body weight. SeaWorld’s necropsy report says Orky died of “acute pneumonia which was caused by diminished immune competence with chronic wasting.” Three days before Orky’s death, Kandu, a female killer whale, gave birth to his daughter, Orkid. Orkid still lives [https://killerwhales.fandom.com/wiki/Orkid] at SeaWorld San Diego.

Pt. 10: Sunk

WHEN DID MARINELAND IN LOS ANGELES CLOSE? On January 29, 1987, nine days after it transferred the park’s star attractions, killer whales Orky and Corky to SeaWorld [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/04/02/pt-9-thieves-in-the-night/], HBJ announced that Marineland would be closed [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-29-mn-2367-story.html] permanently on March 1. The announcement was greeted with shock and anger from those who worked at the park and its countless fans across Southland. WHY DID MARINELAND IN CALIFORNIA CLOSE? HBJ claimed that it would cost too much money to make necessary repairs for the 33-year-old park to be a viable attraction. It also added that it would be even more difficult to turn a profit without Orky and Corky, [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/02/04/pt-6-eye-to-eye-with-orky-and-corky/] which had just shipped out to SeaWorld. On February 11, HBJ called all employees to the Sea Area where a representative — flanked by beefy security guards — told them the horrible news, Marineland would be closed [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-09-tm-463-story.html] permanently at 5 pm that day. HBJ had once again moved the goalposts and broke a promise. The reason they gave for the premature closure was that the park had allegedly received three bomb threats. The Lomita Sheriff’s substation, whose jurisdiction includes Marineland, told the LA Times the police received no notice of a bomb threat at Marineland that week. “It was heartbreaking because of the way it was done more than anything else. The whales were moved at night. You felt like you lost a close family member,” Jim Roope, the park’s Live Entertainment Director form 1980 to 1984, told the podcast. “When Marineland closed, the way it was done was a murder. That’s what it felt like.” [https://marinelandpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/crop.jpg?w=1024] (Marineland in June 1987, 4 months after its closure.) HBJ’s brazen scheme to ruin Marineland wouldn’t go unpunished. When your bread and butter is publishing books for schools, it’s probably not a great idea to shut down an educational institution [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/02/25/pt-7-guests-get-close-up/] in the second-largest market in America. Over the next few weeks, there were calls to ban HBJ’s books [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-23-cb-633-story.html] in local schools. After Marineland’s closure, a few Marinelanders remained at the park with the emotionally distraught job of caring for the remaining animals and shipping them off to various SeaWorld parks. Marineland trainer Joanne Hay warned SeaWorld officials that Sundance, a subdominant dolphin, and one of the park’s most prominent performers, should not be put in a tank with other male bottle-nose dolphins as he would not be able to defend himself. The day after his move to SeaWorld, Sundance died of a fractured skull [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-15-me-10969-story.html] and cerebral hemorrhage after another male attacked him in the tank. Four days later, Echo, a female dolphin who had recently given birth, died at SeaWorld. Within a year, 12 of the Marineland animals — five dolphins, five sea lions, and two seals — were dead, some within weeks of the transfer, according to federal marine-mammal inventory reports. On May 14, 1987, HBJ washed its hands of the controversy by selling the Marineland property to Arizona developer James Monaghan [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/06/04/pt-11-trouble-at-seaworld/] for $24.5 million.

Pt. 9: Thieves in the Night

On episode 9 of [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/04/02/pt-9-thieves-in-the-night/] “LA’s Own Marineland,” we discuss the dark days that followed Harcourt Brace Jovanovich’s purchase of Marineland, and one of the craziest nights in the park’s 33-year history courtesy of two guys named Dave and a lot of alcohol. WHEN DID SEAWORLD BUY MARINELAND? On New Year’s Eve 1986, a headline appeared in the Los Angeles Times [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-31-mn-1461-story.html], “Marineland Sold to Company that Owns SeaWorld.” “But We’re Not Becoming a SeaWorld,” Marineland spokesperson Laurie Armstrong told the Los Angeles Times. “We will remain as Marineland and continue under our current management.” Unlike previous changes in ownership, when Harcourt Brace Jovanovich took control of Marineland, the park was in the strongest position it had been in almost 20 years. Even so, there was some trepidation among Marineland’s management, because HBJ owned SeaWorld, the park’s competition in San Diego, and had been angling to acquire [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-09-tm-463-story.html#:~:text=Marineland's%20Orky%20was%20the%20only,Sea%20World's%20search%20were%20high.] its killer whales, Orky and Corky, for years. Saturday, January 10, 1987, was one of the wildest nights in the park’s history. A heavily intoxicated Dave Mulligan and Dave Berg [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-13-mn-4381-story.html] broke into the park and rode the killer whales in the wee hours of the morning after drinking in Redondo Beach. The two circled the tank for 30 minutes before they were apprehended by the Lomita Sheriff’s Department. No charges were filed against the “Two Daves.” WHEN WERE ORKY AND CORKY MOVED TO SEAWORLD? Marineland was closed on January 20, 1987, for “improvements,” and by nightfall, cranes rolled up from Long Beach and removed Orky and Corky from their home of 17 years. They were placed onto flatbed trucks to be taken to Sea World San Diego. The move was a complete shock to most of the park’s employees. Only a few people in management and in mammal care were told about the transfer. “That night, I learned vocalizations from Orky that I’d never heard before. It was really a bizarre scene,” killer whale trainer Gail Laule, who was with the orcas during the transfer, told the podcast. “And then when the news broke, there was some footage of them driving down the freeway. It could have been something good, but it looks so suspicious. It looked so covert. It was something that was quite negative and didn’t need to be.” The clandestine moves in the middle of the night caused outrage across the Southland. News reports said that the whales were relocated as part of SeaWorld’s breeding program. When they arrived, they were lowered into the killer whale stadium at SeaWorld. However, it wasn’t the massive five-million-gallon Shamu Stadium [https://orcapod.fandom.com/wiki/Category:SeaWorld_San_Diego%27s_Tank_Dimensions]still under construction to be opened for the summer season. It was the smaller tank that, at the time, housed killer whales Kandu and Kenau and currently holds the park’s dolphins and pilot whales. After Orky and Corky were removed from Marineland, a dark cloud descended upon the park. It was still open but without its star attractions. Marinelanders were heartbroken that the killer whales they knew and loved for two decades were gone. HBJ officials told the public that the park would remain open, and there would be a new show in the killer whale coliseum with Bubbles the pilot whale [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/03/09/pt-8-bubbles-friends-costumed-characters-and-kiva/], and a new companion, Bangles, and some dolphins. That future seemed tenable to some of Marineland’s employees who understood that Orky and Corky would fare better in the larger tank [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/06/04/pt-11-trouble-at-seaworld/] under construction at SeaWorld and that the park could thrive with a new focus and SeaWorld’s money. On January 26, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council met to pass an ordinance that said if HBJ closes the park, it would have to tear down any abandoned buildings [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/06/25/pt-12-marinelands-legacy/] within two years and provide a plan for the redevelopment of the land within 30 days. Two days after the actions by the city, HBJ’s head, William Jovanovich, sent a telex to Marineland officials that the park would be closed [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-30-me-1820-story.html#:~:text=Marineland%2C%20the%20venerable%20aquatic%20park,reported%20%2423.4%20million%20on%20Dec.] in five weeks, on March 1st. The devastating news was accompanied by a very shaky defense that never held up with Marineland’s employees or the public.

Pt. 8: Bubbles’ Friends, Costumed Characters, and Kiva

On the eighth episode of “LA’s Own Marin [https://marinelandpodcast.com/]e [https://marinelandpodcast.com/]land,” [https://marinelandpodcast.com/]covering the years 1981 to 1986, the park finds success by leaning into its strengths as a place where people can get close to marine life in ways they never could before. We also look at Bubbles the pilot whale’s [https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/seaworld-bubbles-oldest-pilot-whale-dies/index.html] relationships with his dolphin tankmates, and Corky has her longest surviving calf. By the end of 1981, things were looking up at Marineland. Its new owner, Far East Hotels, out of Hong Kong, had a laissez-faire attitude that gave more power to park management over how the park was presented to the public. The new push would put the park’s amazing animals up front, not cartoon characters or movie properties. “We created the park to be all about the animals. This wasn’t about Hanna-Barbera characters. It was a focus, a very laser-like focus on these wonderful creatures that we had to share with visitors that came to the park,” Linda Malek, Marineland’s Marketing Director from 1979 to 1987, told the podcast. WHO WERE THE COSTUMED CHARACTERS AT MARINELAND? Hanna-Barbera may have left [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/02/25/pt-7-guests-get-close-up/] Marineland, but the park continued to embrace costumed characters. Marineland replaced the cartoon stars with a new, original crew featuring Waddles the Penguin, Shivers the Polar Bear, Kilroy the Killer Whale, Professor Pelican—who would later become Captain Pelican—Admiral Tusk the Walrus, Stinky the Skunk, Sheldon the Shark, Sammy the Sea Lion, and Fubar the Bear. On June 18, 1982, Corky had her third [https://www.orcaaware.org/corkys-calves.html]and longest-surviving calf, a female named Kiva. [https://orcapod.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Kiva] Unfortunately, Kiva failed to nurse properly, and Corky began to be rough with the calf, pinning her to the bottom of the tank. For the calf’s safety, Marineland moved her to a holding pool with a dolphin. Kiva showed signs of stress after being moved and the next day developed respiratory problems and died. She lived only 46 days. In 1985, there was a major disturbance in the Killer Whale Coliseum. Corky broke an observation window that sent a third of the tank’s 640,000 gallons of water rushing down the zigzag walkway. On December 26, 1986, Marineland’s owners, Far East Hotel and Entertainment Ltd. a division of Warwick International, called together Marineland’s top brass and told them the park was being sold [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-31-mn-1461-story.html] to Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich SeaWorld’s parent company. We’ll soon discover that Harcourt Brace Jovanovich’s promise that it would keep the park open wasn’t to be trusted. [https://marinelandpodcast.com/2023/05/09/pt-10-sunk/]