Another dolphin has died at the now shuttered Miami Seaquarium, according to a statement issued by the Dolphin Company Tuesday.
Boomer, a 10-year-old bottlenose dolphin, arrived at the troubled facility in June, the company said. A cause of death was not yet known but Boomer had a history of health problems and had bounced around from park to park throughout his life. Most recently, Boomer had been losing weight.
Animal rights groups were critical.
“The Miami Seaquarium has shut its doors, yet sick, stressed animals are still suffering in its crumbling concrete cells. PETA is pleading for the survivors to immediately be evaluated for possible release to their ocean homes, and to reputable sanctuaries if not right for them, before this decrepit hellhole costs another animal their life, and urges everyone to refuse to support SeaWorld and other amusement parks that keep captive dolphins,” PETA President Tracy Reiman said in a statement.
This is the second bottlenose dolphin to die this year alone. Bimimi, a 26-year-old chronically ill dolphin, died in September after not receiving proper veterinary care. Bimini was among several dolphins that had ingested hazardous objects, according to a USDA report. Trainers had found a broken bolt in the dolphin’s mouth.
Bottlenose dolphins are known to live up to 40 years or more in the wild.
Miami Seaquarium closed to the public on October 12 but there are still animals living at the dilapidated facility.
A bankruptcy court has approved a sales plan to a group led by developer David Martin, who plans to build a marina while retaining an aquarium and other tourist attraction features. There would be no live mammals.
Miami-Dade County owns the Virginia Key property that the Seaquarium has occupied since the late 1950’s
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The Seaquarium’s most famous animal, an orca whale named Lolita or Tokitae, died in August 2023 as efforts were underway to move her to sea pen in her native waters off the coast of Washington state. Lolita had lived at Miami Seaquarium for five decades in a pen barely twice her size.
A necropsy later found that Lolita had died from multiple chronic conditions.
Earlier that year, another bottlenose dolphin, Echo, was also found dead, following an attack from another dolphin.
Jessica De Leon is a general assignment reporter at the Key Biscayne Independent.