Bob Byrne remembers Marineland, Adelaide’s hub of aquatic entertainment

FOR two decades, Marineland was the hub of aquatic entertainment in Adelaide - loved and maligned by many, recalls Bob Byrne

28/07/2006 LIBRARY: Marineland at West Beach, SA. Trainer Bert Coster and Nipper the dolphin leaping jumping through hoop ring of fire 1970.

ALMOST 30 years after its closure, Marineland still creates a great deal of passionate discussion.

There are happy and treasured memories of school excursions, visits with parents and siblings, staff Christmas parties which were held there, while for others there’s a sense of unease surrounding the less than ideal practice of capturing and imprisoning animals for the purpose of having them perform for the public.

Marineland was a marine park that opened at West Beach in 1969 and closed in 1988, in rather controversial circumstances. Feature attractions of the park were the performing dolphins and sea lions and another of the major drawcards was the famous pelican Mr Percival from the movie Storm Boy.

I recall clearly the controversy surrounding the relocation of at least two of the dolphins when Marineland finally closed. Both had been born in captivity and would never have survived in the wild. In the end they were shipped off to a marine park on the Gold Coast at great expense to the State Government of the day.

Tony Porter, the son of long-time manager of Marineland Bob Porter recently recalled his father’s time there: “My father managed the West Beach Trust until his sudden death in 1985, after which the place was sold and was eventually allowed to run down until it was closed – although the campaign to stop the capture of dolphins for public entertainment had a lot to do with it too.

“My father was a former British airline exec who had a knack for selling and the ‘gift of the gab’, so was adept at spinning publicity from nowhere. But in the end it was, as many have observed, a practice whose time had come and gone, and it was right that it ended. “Marineland would never have survived anyway – and fair enough too – but it did a lot to advance cetacean behaviour research”.

Former head trainer Simon Latimer maintains that the dolphins, sea lions and other animals were always treated well, fed well, looked after and loved to perform.

It’s nothing unusual for dolphins and sea lions to perform, they’re very cheeky animals and it’s really just an extension of their personality,” he said

“Initially, yes the dolphins were captured, and part of Marineland’s role was to engage in further research into dolphin behaviour, similar to what zoos do for threatened or endangered species.

“I would also point out that staff at Marineland rescued and cared for many other sea animals over the period.

“Some were not able to go back into the wild but others did. Marineland wasn’t just purely for the purpose of entertainment, but also for the rehabilitation of injured animals who would not have otherwise survived.”

Mr Latimer was continually sought out by researchers worldwide for his encyclopedic knowledge of sea creatures – and like all such people, he loved the animals with a passion.

He points to the Royal Commission, especially set up in the early 1980s to look into treatment of the sea animals at Marineland, which found there was no evidence of cruelty.

Many people find they have very mixed emotions about the place. On the one hand, it holds so many happy childhood memories and yet the conditions in which the animals were eventually held, were less than ideal.

It was after 1985 that Marineland began to slip into a state of disrepair.

“It was the failure of maintenance,” according to Mr Latimer. “The new management relied too much on the dolphins to perform, they needed more variety, more diversity.”

Plus there was a growing unease within the community of having creatures, such as dolphins, jumping through flaming hoops to entertain the public.

The park was finally closed in 1988.

Ben Tucker, writing recently on the Adelaide Remember When blog, recalls that as a child of the 70s, he thought Marineland was wonderful; “The dolphins and sea lions were a source of excitement and awe. It was the first close-up experience of these beautiful intelligent creatures for me. As my visits coincided with the popularity of the film, Storm Boy, the visit from Mr Percival was like meeting a celebrity.

“I do remember the demise of the facility and it looking very tired and then its closure.

“It left a still unfilled gap in SA for an aquarium or marine facility open to the public for everyone’s enjoyment. Perhaps the now again unused site at West Beach could offer an opportunity for something more sensitive and modern to fill this need.”

However others were opposed to such a suggestion, as one wrote; “I know we all have warm, fuzzy and often romanticised childhood memories of visiting Marineland in its heyday but I do not believe that marine parks or aquariums are relevant or necessary in our world today. We have enough research and information to prove that marine life suffers psychological stress and trauma in captivity away from their natural habitat. This industry of using animals as entertainment is outdated and cruel.”

But for many, the good memories are enough. Robert Verrall reminisced: “Dad always used to take us as a “day out” kind of thing. What I used to love was when the dolphins would splash the water so hard people would get wet and the resultant screams of shock and delight you would sometimes hear. I particularly recall the smell, it was like opening a can of tuna.

And Adrian Baker recalled: “I always remember going to the top spot above Davy Jones’ Locker (kiosk/restaurant) to see the animals swimming around from the top and feeling scared about the sharks. The dolphins jumping through a ring of fire was the climax too. Then in the ’80s going to ‘Dine With the Dolphins’, eating a meal with dolphins and turtles swimming past your table, as it was next to one of the windows of the aquarium. Also there was a 360 degrees cinema there, a theatre in the round, very big for the times.”

What are your own memories of Marineland?

As my visits coincided with the popularity of the film, Storm Boy, the visit from Mr Percival was like meeting a celebrity.