Three black-footed penguins named Daisy, Blueberry and Tinker wobbled outside their enclosure on Sunday and found an unusually robust crowd of several dozen people waiting.
It was the last day of the Miami Seaquarium, a South Florida landmark for 70 years, and residents came for a final glimpse of the beloved animals that reminded them of childhood. Penguins on their daily march. Sea lions performing tricks. The dolphin show named after “Flipper,” the television series that helped make the Seaquarium famous more than half a century ago.
“It’s sad, like a last hurrah,” said Sue Chatlos, 76, who was visiting the park for the first time in two decades along with her husband, Mark, and their 55-year-old son, Jason. “I’m going to start crying.”
Outside the aquatic park, protesters popped bottles of bubbly to celebrate what they called an end to animal cruelty. Animal rights activists targeted the Seaquarium for years, especially when it was still home to the orca Lolita, also known as Tokitae and Toki, who died in 2023.
“I have been protesting here since 1986,” said Susan Hargreaves, 66, of Palm Beach County, as she raised a glass of cava. “Today is another nail in the coffin in the animal prison industry.”
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The post One Last March of the Penguins: Miami Says Farewell to Its Seaquarium appeared first on New York Times.
