While the bankruptcy fallout from a multinational corporation forces dolphin facility closures and animal transfers around Florida, trainers at one Middle Keys resort are hoping their dolphins aren’t next on the list.
In March of 2025, the Dolphin Company, then owners of the Miami Seaquarium along with Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, Marineland Dolphin Adventure in St. Augustine and Duck Key’s Dolphin Connection, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid federal and state investigations into four dolphin deaths within a six-month period at Gulf World.
Included in an initial list of creditors, published in federal court records the following month, was Duck Key’s own Hawks Cay Resort, claiming $337,202 owed by the leased sea pen facility on resort property. Originally established in 1990, the 35-year-old operation was purchased by Dolphin Discovery, later rebranded as the Dolphin Company, in 2018.
Throughout the remainder of 2025, several highly-publicized court cases would see the closure and sale of Gulf World and Miami Seaquarium to real estate development groups, prompting auction sales and donations of hundreds of marine mammals, birds and other animals to facilities across the country – including more than a dozen dolphins, seals and sea lions sent to new homes at Keys facilities before the close of 2025.
In November, a bankruptcy court approved a last-minute $6.5 million bid by a former employee and research expert – bankrolled by a local couple – to preserve Marineland as a nonprofit dolphin operation.
But last month, Dolphin Connection staff noticed a reservation blackout for interactive programs beyond Jan. 11, 2026. And on Dec. 22, a new notice laid out a plan to donate and transfer the eight animals currently housed at the Duck Key facility to SeaWorld, if objections were not received by Jan. 2.
“The debtors are winding down their operations at Hawks Cay Resort and intend to reject (their) real property lease with respect to such facility,” the notice states. “Sea World is … one of the world’s foremost zoological organizations, making them a leader in animal welfare, training, husbandry, and veterinary care.”
A declaration attached to the proposal includes support from chief restructuring officer Robert Wagstaff of Riveron Management Services LLC, hired to manage Dolphin Company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Despite working with interested buyers for months, Wagstaff said, “the debtors did not receive an actionable bid for that business segment at a value that would provide a net benefit,” citing transaction costs and the constraints of the Dolphin Connection lease with Hawks Cay, set to expire in October 2026, as leading factors.
But according to former Dolphin Connection general manager Danay Voiles, a bidder for the facility whose objection letter to Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein was filed Jan. 6, the lower bids were due to a lack of transparency from Riveron and an unwillingness to extend the facility’s lease for new owners – a concern that could have left a new business dead in the water in less than a year.
“Riveron represented that Hawks Cay Resort was not willing to engage in lease negotiations and that any offer would be considered only if it conformed strictly to the existing lease terms,” Voiles wrote. “The inability to discuss or negotiate lease terms rendered a proposal commercially unviable and prevented submission of a bid, despite continued interest and readiness to proceed.”
Financial statements available to bidders were only updated through May 2025, she wrote, while requests for updated statements and tax documentation were declined.
“My intent has consistently been to pursue a transaction that would allow Dolphin Connection to continue operating … preserving the facility, maintaining established animal care programs, and ensuring continuity of care for the dolphins,” Voiles said.
Speaking to the Weekly, however, Hawks Cay general manager Reggie Cooper said the decision to close and transfer the animals did not come from his resort.
“Dolphin Connection is independently owned and managed, and Hawks Cay was not involved in the decision to cease operations and have the dolphins transferred,” Cooper wrote in an emailed statement. “However, we will continue to make ourselves available throughout this process to support the well-being of the dolphins.”
Calls and emails to Wagstaff and Hawks Cay parent company Brookfield Asset Management seeking confirmation of Voiles’ statements were not returned at press time.
Since December, numerous trainers, resort staff members and industry professionals who spoke with the Weekly privately for fear of retribution gave conflicting reports over future plans for the sea pens, including purchase by Key Largo-based Dolphins Plus or use as a pledged seaside sanctuary site for dolphins from the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
At press time, a change.org petition authored by Miami Seaquarium trainer Jessica Serrano titled “Help the dolphins at Hawks Cay keep their home” had garnered 1,283 signatures.
Again alleging that a dolphin facility was no longer welcome to continue operations at the resort, the petition outlines physical, medical and social concerns for individual animals in the eight-dolphin pod, including 42-year-old retired Navy dolphin Chinook and 22-year-old Balla, born and raised at the facility in a natural sea pen environment with no exposure to an artificial tank system.
And in the weeks since news of the pending transfer broke, a coordinated batch of Google reviews for Hawks Cay praised guests’ experiences at Dolphin Connection.
“I’ve lived in Marathon for 10 years and finally had the opportunity to get in the water with a dolphin,” wrote one reviewer. “This experience changed my view and understanding of the importance of keeping access to and educating people on these amazing animals.”
“I would return to the resort for this experience alone,” wrote another.
Replies written by the resort acknowledged that “the dolphins are definitely a special part of what makes the resort so unique,” telling one reviewer on Jan. 7 that “we hope you’ll be able to enjoy them next year.” As of press time, links to Dolphin Connection’s operations were removed from the resort’s website.
A Dec. 29 order in the ongoing bankruptcy case extended the deadline to transfer or reject the Dolphin Connection lease with Hawks Cay until Jan. 31, while the facility’s reservation system still lists Jan. 11 as the last day for reservations. A hearing in the case originally scheduled for Jan. 7 was canceled the day before.
