Brighton Aquarium & Dolphinarium: 1968 - 1990




BACKGROUND

Detail of the hostory of the aquarium can be found in the guide books displayed below on this page and also in A Review of Dolphinaria published in 1986.
The aquarium last remaining dolphins "Missy" and "Silver" became part of the controversial Into The Blue project and were eventually release into the sea in the Caribbean in September 1991. Their fate remains unknown.

Pools: Polygonal main pool (elongated octagon); 22.0 m max. length, 9.2 m max. width, 3.0 m deep, surface area roughly 175 m2 . Trapezium shaped holding pool adjoining; 3 m deep, surface area 55 m2, which can be filtered, but not emptied, separately. Total surface area roughly 230 m2. Indoor, natural sea water.

More details can be found in A Review of Dolphinaria.


1972 plan of the aquarium and dolphinarium

Then and now: Views of the dolphinarium at its opening in 1972.  A view of development by Sealife Centres as a large aquarium tank in 2009.



PHOTOGRAPHS






Pictures of the original dolphin pool which housed the sealions and is now the site of the Brighton Sealife Centre Gift Shop. The trainer in the photos is Stewart Burnham.







Postcards from 1972.

VIDEO
 

GUIDE BOOKS

 Brighton Aquarium and Dolphinarium guide book - 1972 .












 Brighton Aquarium and Dolphinarium guide book - Mid 1970's




















Brighton Aquarium and Dolphinarium guide book - Mid 1980's


































  

ENLARGED SCANS






The original dolphin pool now seen in this photograph has housing California sea lions
 
 
PRESS



RESEARCH PAPERS









4 comments:

  1. This link may be of interest:

    http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__11070.aspx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More background on the "release project":

      http://ukdolphinaria.blogspot.com/p/into-blue-what-ever-became-of-missie.html

      Delete
  2. I have put an archive recording, copied from cassette tape, up on SoundCloud. It is of a complete Dolphin Show at the Brighton Dolphinarium in 1974. The quality is not very good because it was just an ordinary cassette recorder placed in the audience, but it may be of interest.

    ReplyDelete
  3. https://soundcloud.com/david-ransom/brighton-dolphin-show-1974

    ReplyDelete