Miami, FL

Amid possible eviction, what will happen to animals at Miami Seaquarium?

Published

2 years ago

April 22, 2024

Amid possible eviction, what will happen to animals at Miami Seaquarium?

MIAMI – With Miami-Dade County issuing the owners of the Miami Seaquarium an eviction letter on Monday, Local 10 News is working to address your questions about what could happen to the animals at the marine park.

A Sunday deadline for the park owners to vacate the premises came and went Sunday, with the park operating business as usual on Monday.

Its owners plan to fight any eviction.

‘The animals belong to the company’

During a March 7 news conference where Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Commissioner Raquel Regalado announced the county’s decision to terminate Miami Seaquarium operator the Dolphin Company’s lease, the Mayor told Local 10′s Christina Vazquez “to be clear, the animals belong to the company, they do not belong to the County.”

The county, she said, “does not have the ability to intervene at this point, only the U.S. Department of Agriculture can do that.” She confirmed that the Dolphin Company, as owners of the animals, could transfer the animals to other parks in its portfolio.

Regalado added that from what they understand it also “depends on the animal” because “some of them are owned outright, some of them are leased, some could return to their lease holds.”

On Monday, Holly, of SoFlo Animal Rights, told Local 10 News that she does find it “frustrating” that the Dolphin Company, as the owner of the animals, is able to, in her words “traffick” them to other facilities.

“We know it is very complicated,” she said about the intersection the animals have with different federal regulatory agencies based on species, “but ultimately what is so sad is the animals are just property so even if they do close and the animals are removed it is still sad, but yet, the one good thing is that it would be one less marine park so it signifies a change in public opinion, so that is something to celebrate, but right now we are sad.”

Contingency plans

During an interview on April 12 with Local 10 News, Miami-Dade County Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales said that the county is working on contingency plans in the event the Dolphin Company should abandon animals if it does eventually vacate the premises.

Those plans include working with federal partners who have jurisdictional and regulator oversight over certain animals as well as assessing County resources where permissible like Zoo Miami.

Dolphin Company officials say they plan to stay.

Federal oversight agencies

In the past year, federal agencies have also decided to transport some of the animals at the Miami Seaquarium to other facilities.

In those cases, it would be the decision of the federal agency and the private partner taking in the animal, rather than Miami-Dade County.

For example, in August of 2023, following the passing of beloved orca Lolita, two of Lolita’s dolphin companions, Loke and Elelo, were taken to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

A spokesperson for that institution said at the time that it “responded to an urgent need to provide sanctuary for two Pacific white-sided dolphins…from the Miami Seaquarium living in insufficient environmental conditions. The transport of 40-year-old female dolphin Loke and her 5-year-old son, Elelo to Shedd’s 3-million-gallon cold water habitat took place on August 3 under authorization from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office of Protected Resources.”

A month later, the third of Lolita’s dolphin companions, Li’i, Elelo’s father, was transferred from the Miami Seaquarium to SeaWorld San Antonio.

A SeaWorld spokesperson told Local 10 News in a news release that “the expedited transport of this 40-year-old male dolphin to AZA-accredited SeaWorld San Antonio took place on September 24, 2023 under authorization from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources.”

In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that it was working with “an experienced team of manatee rescue and rehabilitation experts to assist with the transport effort of manatees from Miami Seaquarium.”

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Miami, FL

Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6

Published

9 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Former Titans GM mock Miami right tackle to the Cleveland Browns at 6

The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.

While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.

Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.

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Miami, FL

Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Inventory drops for first time since 2023 as sales rebound across coastal Miami, beaches

Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.

The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.

In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings.

On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year.

Here’s a closer look at the market:

Miami Beach and the barrier islands

Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024.

Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119.

Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.

Coastal mainland

Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings.

The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000.

The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle.

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