More Marineland Memories
By Susan Wade, Rancho Palos Verdes
An old photo of the whale tank at Marineland, 1986.
When I first moved to California in the late ‘60s, I had never heard of Marineland, but a friend invited me to visit the attraction and it was a wonderful experience. I especially remember the aquarium building. The variety of fish was amazing and I saw many colorful species.
My second visit was in September 1986, and I was with my husband and 1 1/2-year-old daughter. When we arrived, there were surprisingly few cars in the parking lot. In fact, we saw very few other visitors. The weather was a little overcast and cool, but the location overlooking the ocean was beautiful. Because my daughter was so young, she was afraid during the whale show and started to cry, so we didn’t see all of it. She better liked the seals.
Sadly, three months after our visit, Marineland closed for good. However, today there is a wonderful Marineland exhibit at the Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center just down the road from the original site. The exhibit has extensive memorabilia, including an original ticket booth and even a picture of Elvis feeding a dolphin.
The Interpretive Center is free and open to the public seven days a week, and there is free parking. Their website is www.palosverdes.com/rpv. PEN