Hi Everyone, I'm currently updating my website on british dolphinaria and I was wondering whether anyone on here knew anything about either of the dolphinariums that existed at Sandown (the Isle of Wight) or Weymouth. There is practically no evidence of their existence on the internet (other than lists of closed zoos/dolphinaria) about either of them so if anyone has any memories or photos that they would like to share, please feel free to do so! I believe that the Sandown Dolphinarium may have either been called the "Isle of Wight Dolphinarium"/Sandown Marine and Freshwater Aquarium" and the Weymouth one, possibly "Weymouth Sea Life Park". This may well have been located at the same location as the present Sea Life Centre, can anyone confirm? Thanks!
I think I have mentioned some of the before. Sandown Dolphinarium was operated by a gentlemen called Ted Cowell and the dolphins displayed there were owned by an American Charlie Riggs whose company Aquatic Mammal Enterprises was based in Florida; these animals returned to the US after they were displayed at Sandown. Cowell did own one dolphin which for reasons that escape me did spend some time at Woburn Dolphinarium operated by ETAM the leisure division of Trust House Forte. Weymouth was semi-permanent pool and I think the show was only there for a summer season. The dolphins from this show and their trainer Francis Randell went to Converty Zoo which had a dolphinarium. Weymouth Sealife Park was another name for the current Sealife Centre and unrelated to the dolphin show.
Francis Randell Is this the same Francis Randell that worked as Head Warden at the now closed Winsor Safari Park ?
Yeap! He was also the original Head Trainer when Flamingo Park aka Flamingoland first kept dolphins. Picture here: http://www.marineanimalwelfare.com/Dolphinaria/Flamingoland/images/Flamingoland/Cuddles%20-%20Duo%20Pic.jpg
I had friends work there. It was sited in the Coney Beach fun fair and owned by Joe Raber's Marine Mammals International which operated the dolphin show at Battersea Park Fun Fair and whose last two dolphins also worked at the Royalty Folies in the Royalty Theatre in London for three months prior to their sale to a dolphin show in the Far East. It's design was very similar to Knowsley Dolphinarium at Knowsley Safari Park - which now houses sea lions. It pre-dates Knowsley the other ETAM dolphinaria at Rhyl and Woburn and I suspect they copied the design; basic 48 feet by 24 feet pool of around 12 feet in depth and two holding pools. The only difference with Porthcawl was that unlike Knowsley the holding pens could not be sealed with water tight doors.
Thanks John! I thought you might turn up here! You're the knowledge base of the british dolphinaria! I'm currently moving my site to a server thing that has more pages so I'm adding in all the ones i've missed and stuff. By semi-permanent do you mean like Scarborough? or does that count as temporary? I wondered whether the sealife park was just the current one, but all these places tend to be listed slighly differently in different places!
