Sea World of Florida Inc history

Our roots can be traced to 1959 when what would become Busch Gardens® Tampa opened as a small bird sanctuary and garden, both adjacent to the new Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Hurricanes Donna and Betsy hit Long Key in the 1960’s, causing severe flooding of the marina and surrounding area.

Layton increased the size of his holdings and established a restaurant and cabins, which eventually became “Layton’s Long Key Fishing Camp.” In 1963, Layton was officially incorporated, although Layton’s efforts to change the name of the post office failed.

Four years later, in 1968, SeaWorld offered its stock publicly, enabling the company to further its growth opportunities.

In the mid-1970’s, the property was run for a brief time as a novelty store called “Gilligans Island”. It is rumored that Del Layton often crossed US 1 brandishing his shot gun at the “hippies” in residence.

While SeaWorld Ohio was only a seasonally-operated park because of its climate, a new year-round park, SeaWorld Orlando, opened in 1973 to instant success, much like its predecessors.

Today, there are two Busch Gardens parks: the original Tampa, Fla. location and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Va. which opened in 1975.

William Jovanovich, who owned the publishing company Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, or HBJ, bought out the SeaWorld chain for just .7 million dollars in 1976.

In 1978, the property changed hands again and was developed as a public attraction and research center by Sea World of Florida, Inc.

What began as a 3-acre theme park in 1980 has grown to 55 acres with more than 4-dozen rides, play areas, shows, distinctive experiences and events.

The Sea World Shark Institute proved to be unprofitable as a public attraction and Sea World closed the facility to the public in 1982 but retained the property to accommodate the company’s internal research and animal husbandry activities.

The state decided to make a move and in 1988, The Nature Conservancy actually purchased the facility from Sea World until the necessary legislation was in place.

Although it initially was open year-round, the Texas theme park adopted a seasonal schedule in 1989.

The State of Florida completed purchase of the facility in August 1990, and the FIO entered into a formal inter-agency agreement with the FWC to operate the facility under joint jurisdiction of FIO and the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI).

The Keys Marine Laboratory was dedicated and commenced its official joint state agency operations on February 1, 1991.

Once a show-driven park, under Busch ownership SeaWorld Orlando began bringing unique rides systems to the Orlando park, including the nation's first combination roller coaster and flume ride with Journey to Atlantis in 1997.

Discovery Cove opened in 2000, offering up-close animal encounters in a more intimate, and pricey, setting.

Anheuser-Busch sold SeaWorld Ohio to Six Flags in 2001, but the three remaining parks are still committed to SeaWorld’s founding principles, which are quality in the areas of education, entertainment, research and conservation.

In 2008, Belgian brewer InBev bought Anheuser-Busch, leading to the sale of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks to a private equity firm the next year.

While improvement projects will continue, the lab was back to full-time status as of 2009.

And in 2010, SeaWorld suffered its greatest tragedy when one of the park's orcas grabbed the ponytail of a trainer, then dragged her into the water, drowning her.