A popular marine park in Florida’s panhandle is closed and the property is to be sold, after five dolphins died at the park in less than a year.

“How is this happening in the United States of America?” Valerie Greene, a former animal trainer and volunteer with TideBreakers, a Canadian advocacy group against marine mammal captivity, told AL.com. “It’s unconscionable that we’re allowing this type of abuse, and it’s very public.”

Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., closed in May after a bottlenose dolphin named Samira died at the park, according to a press release from the park’s parent company, The Dolphin Company.

Samira was the fifth dolphin to die at the park since October 2024. That month, three dolphins died at the marine park. Greene said TideBreakers believes the deaths were due to a deadly fungus that leached during nearby construction and infiltrated the pools.

A fourth dolphin died in March after doing a trick and landing in a shallow part of the tank. TideBreakers put out a video later that month showing the dolphins swimming in dirty, algae-covered water.

Following the dolphins’ deaths, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into the park and its parent company in May, according to news reports.

The Dolphin Company then filed for bankruptcy on March 31. In a filing last week, the bankruptcy officers noted that the Gulf World property on Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach is being prepared for sale, along with some of the company’s other properties.

In the meantime, the remaining dolphins have been transferred primarily to other facilities owned by The Dolphin Company.

Seals and sea lions were also moved to the Miami Seaquarium, despite concerns that some of the seals had eye issues, according to reporting from the Panama City News Herald.

The Miami Seaquarium is another Dolphin Company facility and has made headlines for its treatment of animals. Miami-Dade County tried to evict the seaquarium in 2024; that remains pending.

“They went from basically trading a headache to an upset stomach,” Greene said, “going from one deplorable roadside attraction to another.”

In the news release, The Dolphin Company blamed the difficulties at Gulf World on “years of neglect” from the Mexico-based team tasked with managing the park.

“Animal welfare and safety continue to be top priorities for the fiduciaries who are managing the company under the auspices of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court,” the company’s news release states.

A representative for The Dolphin Company did not respond to AL.com’s request for comment.

Greene says the federal agencies tasked with regulating Gulf World Marine Park failed to hold the park accountable as conditions deteriorated. An inspector with the U.S. Department of Agriculture documented the dolphin’s water tank cracking as early as 2023.

Greene filed complaints with the Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Those complaints were largely ignored, she said.

TideBreakers has begun circulating a petition, asking for U.S. Congress to hold hearings on the agencies’ alleged failure to monitor The Dolphin Company. It currently has almost 2,500 signatures.

In a statement, Andre Bell, a spokesperson for the agriculture department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said it works hard to enforce laws protecting animal welfare.

“APHIS takes its mission to ensure the humane treatment of animals covered by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) very seriously. We continue to conduct inspections and work with facilities to ensure they are in compliance with regulations under the AWA,” Bell said in an email. “When we find issues that bring facilities out of compliance with the AWA regulations, we work hard to bring them back into compliance as quickly as possible. Our investigative process for individuals and/or businesses found out of compliance with the AWA may lead to an enforcement action such as letters of warning, monetary penalties, license suspensions and revocations.”

A representative for NOAA did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Greene said she’s frustrated that the animals are still being housed at Dolphin Company-owned facilities as the legal proceedings continue, but she’s hopeful that the increased attention will lead to improved conditions for marine animals held in captivity.

“We need to radically reimagine the laws that are designed to protect these animals that are woefully inadequate,” Greene said. “I think we’re sort of witnessing this whole entire industry implode, starting with The Dolphin Company, and just how they’ve been allowed to function like this for years.”