Miami-Dade serves Seaquarium with eviction notice
Miami-Dade County on Monday moved forward on its promise to evict the Miami Seaquarium, sending a notice of eviction to the attraction’s parent company, the Dolphin Company.
In a joint statement, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Raquel Regalado said it is their hope that the company voluntarily vacates but that the county is prepared to pursue the eviction in court if necessary.
That latest development came after the Miami Seaquarium on Friday filed suit against MiamiDade County to block the eviction from its waterfront home since the 1950s.
Facing a Sunday deadline to surrender the waterfront location that it leases from Miami-Dade County, the Seaquarium asked a federal judge on Friday to block the eviction action launched six weeks ago by Levine Cava over alleged endangerment of captive animals there. The litigation offers new insight into the park’s financial challenges — including fallout from the loss of its former star attraction, Lolita the killer whale.
Now, the Seaquarium and its Mexico-based parent face the twin challenges of an eviction fight and trying to keep ticket sales afloat at an attraction that has seen a sharp drop in revenue since the Dolphin Company took over in 2022, according to county figures.
The Seaquarium links part of its revenue drop on the loss of sales tied to Lolita, which the Dolphin Company agreed to retire from performing as part of the Levine Cava administration’s requirements for taking over the park. Ending the shows and sales of merchandise tied to the orca accounted for about a quarter of the park’s revenue, the Dolphin Company said in its lawsuit.
Lolita died in August, a time that coincided with some of the new owner’s worst months financially, according to revenue figures released by the county’s Parks Department in response to a records request by the Miami Herald. The Seaquarium pays a portion of its revenue as rent, and reports from the park show sales dropped 46% in August.
That was the worst month in a rough year, according to the reports, with sales down an average 27% between March 2023 and February 2024 compared to 12 months earlier.
The Seaquarium declined to comment on the revenue figures, but its lawsuit also claims economic damage from the county’s eviction effort.
“The Dolphin Company seeks compensation for the economic damages incurred due to the county’s actions, which have adversely affected the financial stability and expansion potential of the Miami Seaquarium,” the company said in a statement released Friday.