Gulf World Marine Park was a dolphinarium located in Panama City Beach, Florida. It was open from 1970 to 2025, and was one of only a few institutes in the United States to house rough-toothed dolphins.
Gulf World Marine Park was founded in 1969 by a group of five Alabama businessmen, and they announced their plans to build the park in September of that year. The park's first dolphins, four bottlenose dolphins captured nearby in the Gulf of Mexico, were housed at a motel pool for training. They were moved to Gulf World in the spring of 1970. Gulf World Marine Park opened to the public on Memorial Day of 1970. In 2000, the park underwent an expansion. In 2015, Gulf World Marine Park was acquired by the Dolphin Company, a company that owns a number of swim-with dolphins facilities.
On March 31, 2025, The Dolphin Company, current owner of Gulf World Marine Park, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to deal with its debt and financial challenges. Following the deaths of several animals and other concerns, the park closed in May 2025, and the park's website has been removed.
In January 2025, a routine USDA inspection of Gulf World Marine Park documented multiple repeat violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (PST_Inspection_Report_Gulf_World_Marine_Park_Inc.pdf) (PST_Inspection_Report_Gulf_World_Marine_Park_Inc.pdf). The inspection report cited problems in several areas, including structural maintenance of enclosures, water quality management, staffing levels, and cleanliness of animal housing conditions (PST_Inspection_Report_Gulf_World_Marine_Park_Inc.pdf) (PST_Inspection_Report_Gulf_World_Marine_Park_Inc.pdf). A summary of key issues identified in the January 2025 inspection (with any associated corrective action deadlines) is presented in the table below. (For reference, the USDA makes inspection reports available through an online public search tool (USDA Animal Care Search Tool | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service).)