Miami Seaquarium refuses to close its park and give land back to Miami-Dade County
The Miami Seaquarium told Miami-Dade County on Monday it will fight termination of its waterfront lease, claiming efforts to evict the theme park are based on faulty allegations about poor animal care and building maintenance.
“We received your notice with grave concern and disappointment,” Edwin Gonzalez, a leader of the company that owns the Seaquarium, wrote in a letter to the office of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We have found substantial evidence that contradicts the claims made in your notice.”
There was no immediate response from the mayor’s office to the Gonzalez letter.
Gonzalez, executive director of the Mexico-based Dolphin Company, claimed county administrators are basing an eviction effort against the marine-mammal theme park on partial information from federal regulators and Miami-Dade’s own building inspectors.
The Miami Seaquarium says it won’t voluntarily close by April 21. A court fight with Miami-Dade County could be next.
While federal and county reports found problems with the Seaquarium’s animal care and park maintenance, Gonzalez said Miami-Dade is ignoring follow-up documentation showing the issues were either fixed or mitigated.
Gonzalez requested a meeting with the Levine Cava administration to work out a compromise to keep the attraction open past the county’s April 21 deadline to vacate the property. Otherwise, his letter suggests, the Seaquarium is ready to fight an eviction in court.
“We assert that the grounds for lease termination, as stated, are unfounded factually and legally — which we are prepared to defend through legal channels, if necessary,” he wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Levine Cava’s chief operating officer, Jimmy Morales.
Late last week, Levine Cava held a press conference announcing the county’s move against the Seaquarium’s lease, which dates back to the 1950s. She gave the Seaquarium until the end of the day Monday to agree to surrender the 38-acre site by the April 21 deadline or face potential legal action by the county to take it back.
“It became clear that terminating the lease was the best path forward,” Levine Cava said at the March 7 press conference. “For the safety of the animals as well as for the safety of residents and visitors.”
The county termination letter that went out that day cited reports from the United States Department of Agriculture between 2022 and 2024. They found the Seaquarium “has been cited by the USDA seven times for failing to adequately maintain facilities [and] seven times related to inadequate veterinary care.”
The notice also pointed to building-code violations from Miami-Dade for aging structures that need repair. One included the Whale Bowl tank that once housed Lolita, the killer whale that died last summer.
In his response, Gonzalez said the Dolphin Company, which took over the Seaquarium in 2022 after purchasing the operation from the prior owner, has been following county requirements to repair the facility or close off areas — including the Lolita performance stands — to the public until they can be rehabilitated.
“We are committed to addressing any remaining concerns through dialogue and collaboration,” he wrote.