Teaching…Learning…Caring
For Marine Mammals & The Environment We Share

A Proud History

1984 - Present

Dolphin Research Center was founded as a not-for-profit corporation in 1984 by Jayne Shannon-Rodriguez and Mandy Rodriguez.  Their goal was to establish a unique education and research facility. The Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions presently living here provide a range of personalities and backgrounds. Some were born here; others came to DRC from separate facilities for various reasons or were already living here when Jayne and Mandy began managing the center.  The public is invited to meet them all and learn each one's story.

The properties on Grassy Key that make up Dolphin Research Center consist of about four acres of land and water with frontage on both US. 1 (the Overseas Highway) and the Gulf of Mexico. Our dolphin and sea lion family lives in ninety thousand square feet of pristine seawater lagoons with low fences separating them from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. These pools were blasted out of the coral rock bottom by the property's original owner and range from four to thirty feet in depth, with an average depth of fifteen feet. Natural tidal flow flushes them daily. These pools represent an irreplaceable asset, as the alteration of the coastline is severely restricted today by environmental concerns.

The fences surrounding the pools protect the dolphins from large predators and the curious public, while admitting a variety of local marine life. A causeway wide enough to accommodate a truck bisects the dolphin area, and wooden boardwalks allow access to feeding docks in the various lagoons. This arrangement offers remarkable flexibility. The dry land portion of the properties contains several structures which provide offices for: Corporate Support, Animal Care and Training, Membership and Development, Guest Services, Dolphin Child, Education, Environmental Services, Media Relations, Medical, Research, Special Projects, and Volunteer departments. They also provide space for the environmental gift shop, food preparation, classrooms, storage areas, and residences for DolphinLab and the lead caretaker.

The Past

1956- Dolphin Research Center and its precursors have operated continuously at the same site on Grassy Key since the 1950s. Milton Santini, a local fisherman who lived at this location, captured Mitzi and other Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and formed Santini’s Porpoise School.  Santini is generally regarded as a pioneer in dolphin collection and training.

1963 - Mitzi, starred in the original pilot movie Flipper, along with five of Santini's other dolphins. The movie's plot was actually based on Santini’s close relationship with Mitzi.  Two of the other dolphins, Little Bit and Mr. Gipper, were the parents of Tursi who lives here today with her sons Talon and Pax.

1972 - Mitzi passed away in 1972 and her final resting place and monument can be seen here on the property.  A broken-hearted Santini sold out to an entertainment conglomerate, which operated the facility until 1977 as a dolphin show known as Flipper's Sea School.

1977 - Whale conservationist Jean Paul Fortom-Gouin, a well-recognized whale conservation activist, purchased the facility and renamed it Institute for Delphinid Research.  His goal was to prove that dolphins were highly intelligent, an argument to convince the world to stop hunting whales.  The facility was closed to the pubic while Fortom-Gouin conducted research on dolphins' language and reasoning skills.  His work was influential in persuading the International Whaling Commission and its member countries to limit, and in some cases stop, hunting whales, a close cousin of the dolphin.

1983 - The International Whaling Commission adopted a voluntary whaling moratorium.   With his primary goal achieved, Fortom-Gouin offered the business and dolphins (along with all the debts!) to his then general manager and head trainer, Jayne and Mandy Rodriguez.  They accepted the challenge and founded Dolphin Research Center.

The Dolphin Research Center family was built as a promise to the dolphins that live here to always provide them with a secure and loving home. The financial burdens were challenging to say the least, especially when it became necessary to actually purchase the land in 1990. Against all odds, we mustered the funds for a down payment and bought the land. In the spring of 1994, due to the contributions of many supporters, the original mortgage was paid off and the dolphins assured of a secure home. Early in 1995, we purchased additional bordering property to enable continued expansion.

The Future… Still Growing Strong

Dolphin Research Center today remains committed to the same principles under which we were founded more than 20 years ago.  We have become an international tourist destination with over 50,000 visitors a year.  Our programs, practices and principles are shared around the world.  With three generations of dolphins, two generations of animal trainers and a staff of 70, DRC continues to dedicate our efforts to our original mission statement:

To promote peaceful coexistence, cooperation and communication between marine mammals, humans and the environment we share through research and education.  The health and well being of Dolphin Research Center’s dolphins holds absolute precedence over all other interests.  DRC will undertake no program or activity that compromises this basic commitment.

Dolphin Research Center… More than 20 years of Teaching… Learning… Caring… for Marine Mammals and the Environment We Share