Miami, FL
Miami Seaquarium offers Local 10 exclusive tour to display ‘investments’ as deadline to vacate nears
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – For the first time since Miami-Dade County told its tenant — Miami Seaquarium operator The Dolphin Company — that it needs to vacate the Virginia Key site by April 21 amid mounting animal welfare concerns, Local 10 News is getting a look inside.
Edwin Gonzalez, the company’s U.S. parks executive director, showed reporter Christina Vazquez around the park Friday.
“You are going to see some of the investments we have been making,” he said.
He showed improvements he said the company has been making to floating decks, cages and more.
“All of these decks over here that you see, all those floating decks, was about a $200,000 investment we made,” Gonzalez said.
He said the repair work underway takes time given the degree of disrepair the aging facility was in at the time The Dolphin Company took over the lease a little more than two years prior.
Take, for example, the whale bowl.
“The county has said that this is an unsafe structure,” Vazquez told Gonzalez.
“Correct,” Gonzalez said. “We have already requested a permit for demolition. It starts with fencing and from there we get the demolition permit and they knock it down.”
Gonzalez said the whale bowl was in a state of disrepair when the company acquired the facility.
“We ended up investing nearly $2 million in this whale bowl but when we came in, we had to put in a new water system, filtration system (when taking care of famed orca Lolita),” Gonzalez said. “You are going to see the famous whale bowl where Lolita was and you will notice it is old, it is closed, no one can go in because one of the concerns with Dade County is it is an unsafe structure.”
The county, citing U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection reports that document a series of repeat violations, is pressing forward in its lease termination process.
Miami-Dade Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales said if the company is still on the premises on April 21, the county will evict it.
“Folks can rest assured the commitment of the mayor and the administration to try to do right by the animals there and the community,” Morales said. “We are going to follow the law and hopefully get to the point that we are able to evict them and then plot a new future for what will happen there but, most importantly, make sure the animals are properly taken care of whether there or somewhere else.”
Gonzalez said executives with the The Dolphin Company have been trying to meet with county officials to “show everything we are doing to fix the park.”
Self-described “dolphin defender” Ric O’Barry, a former trainer at the park, plans to hold a demonstration at the park in support of county leaders Sunday to celebrate Miami-Dade becoming “animal cruelty free.”
He said the industry has gotten “completely out of control.”
“It means a great deal to me to know that the Seaquarium is finally closing,” O’Barry said.
Gonzalez said the company is staying put.
“We are going to fight to stay because we love this place, we love the animals,” he said.
The Seaquarium plans to hold an Earth Day event on April 22 — one day after the day they are supposed to vacate the premises.
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The Dolphins wrapped up Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft with two first-round selections, selecting Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor with the No. 12 pick and cornerback Chris Johnson 27th overall out of San Diego State.
The Dolphins were active early, sending their original No. 11 pick to Dallas in exchange for the Cowboys’ 12th, 177th and 180th overall selections. Miami then moved up to select Johnson, trading its 30th and 90th selections to San Francisco for picks Nos. 27 and No. 138.
A consensus All-American and a first-team All-SEC selection in 2025, Proctor spent three seasons with the Crimson Tide (2023-25), where he started 40 games at left tackle. He helped Alabama to an SEC title in 2023 and to College Football Playoff appearances in 2023 and 2025. He was named to the 2023 SEC All-Freshman team and earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2024.
“He’s unique. He’s rare,” said General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. “He’s a 350-pound man with unique athletic traits that can play four spots across the line of scrimmage – left tackle, right tackle, both guards…We brought him in on a 30 visit. I could feel his conviction and his desire to be a good football player and do the things that he needs to do to be the best pro that he can be. All I can tell you is that there wasn’t another one in the draft like him, period.”
Proctor is the fifth Alabama player and the first Crimson Tide offensive lineman to be drafted by Miami in the first round. At No. 12, Proctor is the third-highest drafted offensive tackle by the Dolphins behind Jake Long in 2008 (1st overall) and Richmond Webb in 1990 (9th overall).
Five men are facing charges after an undercover teen sex trafficking investigation in Miami, authorities said.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force and Miami Police Department’s Special Investigations Section had posed as a mother to offered her daughters, ages 13 and 15, for sexual services in exchange for money, arrest reports said.
The five suspects agreed to pay for sex and when they showed up at a hotel for the encounter they were taken into custody by tactical officers, the reports said.
“I knew it, I knew, I knew that it was this,” one suspect kept repeating in Spanish as he was taken into custody, the reports said.
When the suspect’s duffel bag was searched officers found 18 condoms, 7 different lubricants and lotions, adult toys and bondage restraints, among other items, the reports said.
Another suspect said he’d never engaged in that type of activity before and “requested forgiveness,” the reports said.
The five face charges including human trafficking, records showed.
Miami, FL
Miami-Dade deputies detain elderly father who they say shot and killed his son after a domestic dispute
A 75-year-old man has been detained after Miami-Dade deputies say he shot and killed his son after a domestic dispute in Palmetto Bay.
This happened, according to investigators, at approximately 4:49 p.m. in the area of SW 168th Street and 92nd Avenue.
When deputies arrived, they found the elderly man, who had not yet been identified, and immediately detained him for questioning.
Afterwards, they conducted a security sweep and found an adult male, 47, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Deputies say this isn’t the first time they have responded to the home.
“We have responded to this particular residence in the past due to mental health-type incidents,” MDSO PIO Detective Argemis “AC” Colome said.
Deputies say the dispatcher heard a dispute happening over the phone during the 911 call, but it’s unclear what led to the shooting and who was having the mental health crisis.
“The individual who shot was the father, and the male deceased on the scene was the son,” Colome said.
Neighbors reacted to this family tragedy with shock.
“So sad, a little bit concerned cause maybe you’re, you know, you’re staying somewhere, and you don’t know what’s actually happening at the other houses,” Giorgos Kollilekas, who lives in the area, said.
Colome said that there is no danger to the community as this was the result of a domestic dispute.
“There’s always help, please, there’s a lot of hotlines, there’s a lot of numbers. You can call us. At the end of the day, getting help early can mitigate situations like this,” Colome said.
No other information has been released, including the identities of those involved or what caused the dispute.
The investigation is ongoing.
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