Marineland holiday display celebrates conservation

Combining the joy of the holiday season with a real world challenge, the Marineland Dolphin Adventure is playing host to a Christmas Conservation Celebration this month.

Displaying 20 trees donated by the Palm Coast Home Depot, each decorated by an area business, nonprofit or organization focusing on the theme of conservation, Marineland general manager and vice president Gary Inks hopes to help share the message of preserving the Earth as visitors tour the attraction over the holidays.

“Marineland is an education, conservation, preservation message 365 days a year, but for the Christmas holidays we thought, what a wonderful opportunity to invite all of our friends, neighbors and businesses to come and decorate a tree with a special conservation message,” said Inks.

“Each decorated their own tree, now they’re competing for the best message for conservation,” he said. “They loved the idea so we’re making this an annual event. Next year we’ll have 40 trees and more participation — this tent will become winter wonderland.”

From the Flagler Turtle Patrol’s sparkly sea turtle-themed tree to the UF/IFAS Extension, Florida Sea Grant and the Florida Microplastic Awareness Project "Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic" Christmas tree, visitors have a chance to see ways to protect the environment and help improve the quality of life for marine animals directly affected by environmental issues.

Brandy Sanns, touring the attraction recently with some friends from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, said they were surprised by the Christmas Conservation Celebration and encouraged by the message it conveys.

“It’s great to see other communities and aquariums getting involved in conservation since we are so big on conservation,” said Sanns, who hopes people will take note of the message. “Protect our sea life, protect our animals. Conservation, I feel like, is the number one thing we all need to focus on. We see firsthand the effect on the turtles coming in and we should all be worried about it.”

Guests visiting the Marineland Dolphin Adventure now through Dec. 31 are being asked to vote for their favorite tree, according to Inks, and while there they can pick up 50 percent off cards for use in January, which may be redeemed for activities like Touch and Play, Trainer for a Day and Dolphin Immersions.

Inks took the helm of the attraction in 2017 and has since introduced a number of new opportunities to showcase the venerable attraction now celebrating its 80th anniversary.

“Our challenge here as a nonprofit organization is to pay the bills,” said Inks. “This year has been an excellent year. We opened the arch is June, we’re celebrating our 80th anniversary and now we’re sharing this promotion of the Christmas Conservation Celebration message and coming soon, the 'Bernie the Dolphin' movie (on Dec. 16 at Epic Theaters in Palm Coast),” he said.

As for 2019, he’s not spilling any secrets but he said the future looks promising on many fronts for the iconic attraction.