Which is the world’s first oceanarium?

The word oceanarium could mean two things. It can either mean a marine mammal park, which is a commercial theme park where dolphins, Beluga whales, and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. It could also mean a largescale aquarium such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, which is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling animals and plants are kept, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large fish such as shark. Marineland of Florida, one of Florida’s first theme parks is the world’s first oceanarium. With the passage of time, oceanarium gradually took the term of largescale aquariums like the kind we see today. Marineland was founded in 1937, and mainly focused on dolphin shows. In 1999, Hurricanes Floyd and Irene forced the park to close for two months. In 2004, the park closed completely for renovations, and re-opened on March 4, 2006. The park is now a Dolphin Conservation Center, where guests can interact and swim with the dolphins.