The pool at Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters holds 12,000 gallons and normally serves manatees in the last stage of rehab before they go back to open water. This fall it holds three harbor seals named Ace, Cane and Baby. At 34, Baby is the oldest. The staff are used to sharks and rays, and the seals have changed the sound of their morning rounds. "All of a sudden, you're hearing these guys just playing around with each other," biologist Kee Bligh told Keys Weekly. "It's just not something we're used to … I'm used to silent sharks."
The seals belong to Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key. They're staying at Aquarium Encounters for a plain mechanical reason, and that reason says a lot about how Marathon's two marine-animal facilities fit together. DRC's habitats run on the tide. Aquarium Encounters runs on engineered filtration. For now, Ace, Cane and Baby need the second kind of water. Because both kinds sit in the same town, the seals stayed in the Middle Keys and didn't have to make another long trip on the road.
How Part of Miami Seaquarium Ended Up on Grassy Key
The seals' trip started with the slow end of a Miami landmark. Here is the timeline from news coverage and DRC's own announcements:
- March 7, 2024. Miami-Dade County served the Seaquarium's operator with eviction papers and demanded it leave by April 21, according to The Guardian.
- July 2025. As the bankruptcy case moved forward, WLRN reported that the county's concerns included the park's structural conditions, animal care and financial viability.
- October 12, 2025. The park closed to the public after 70 years, the Miami Herald reported.
- Late October 2025. The $22.5 million sale of the Seaquarium lease to Terra Group was approved, Keys Weekly reported. Terra's plan for the property includes a newly accredited aquarium with no marine mammals.
- November 24, 2025. DRC announced it would give seven Seaquarium animals a permanent home and asked the community to help cover transport, medical care and habitat preparation.
- December 24, 2025. DRC confirmed that all seven had arrived on Grassy Key and were in a 30-day quarantine. Visitors couldn't see them during that period.
DRC listed the seven newcomers as of that December update:
- JJ, a 49-year-old bottlenose dolphin
- Samantha, a 39-year-old bottlenose dolphin
- Clyde, a 21-year-old California sea lion
- Raleigh, a 14-year-old California sea lion
- Ace, Cane and Baby, harbor seals who were 20, 15 and 33 at the time
DRC said all seven have special medical needs related to age and health. The center described quarantine as the start of a gradual move from the mostly tank-based habitats they knew in Miami to DRC's natural ocean-water lagoons. By August 2026, Clyde's DRC profile described him as living in the sea lion lagoon.
Grassy Key wasn't the only Keys destination. Dolphin Life in Key Largo took in six Seaquarium dolphins: Onyx, Zo, Ripley and Aries arrived December 6, 2025, and Skye and Ringo followed on December 31, per Keys Weekly. Theater of the Sea in Islamorada also welcomed three dolphins that season, Sandy, Capri and Soleil. They came from Gulf World, Keys Weekly reported, so they aren't part of the Seaquarium story.
Why a Tidal Lagoon Couldn't Simply Take Three Seals
Harbor seals were new to DRC. The center had cared for dolphins and sea lions for years, but these were the first seals it had ever housed.
DRC's lagoons on Grassy Key normally rely on tidal exchange. Ocean water flows in and out with the tide, and that open-water setup is a big part of the center's identity. After the seals had spent months there, DRC decided to add closed-circuit filtration to their habitat. "While we anticipated their needs, and are giving them great care, we felt we could up our game," CEO Rita Irwin told Keys Weekly. That kind of work couldn't happen with the seals still in the water.
The seals had to go somewhere, and the first options DRC looked at were far from home. According to Keys Weekly, the Grassy Key center was weighing a temporary move to facilities in central Florida or on the west coast. That would have been the seals' second long transport in less than a year.
The Manatee Pool That Kept Them in Marathon
Aquarium Encounters offered its pool instead. Irwin told Keys Weekly that owner Ben Daughtry "said yes without even flinching."
The 12,000-gallon pool is set aside for manatees nearing release, so the aquarium checked with the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership before using it. Program leaders said "absolutely," Bligh told the paper.
That pool runs on the kind of system DRC is now building for itself. Aquarium Encounters' life support is designed to keep sensitive fish, sharks and rays healthy, and it's overseen by Andy Dobrowolski. Irwin said DRC has also relied on his expertise while redesigning its own systems. The aquarium is lending the seals a pool, and its staff are also helping design the habitat the seals will eventually return to.
Seals did bring one new problem for the filters. As Bligh put it to Keys Weekly:
"We've never had to worry about fur in our filtration here. So that's a new challenge. But it's neat to see how our systems handle it. We've had so many species from scalloped hammerheads to manatees and now seals."
DRC stayed involved after the move. One DRC staff member is at Aquarium Encounters all day, other trainers rotate in for sessions, and medical staff visit as needed, trainer Wade Davey told Keys Weekly.
The People Who Followed the Seals South
Some of the care for Ace, Cane and Baby comes from people who knew them in Miami. Before the seals came south, DRC trainers visited the Seaquarium to watch their training and see their relationships with the trainers there. Alix Philos, a former Seaquarium and Gulf World trainer who calls herself "Baby's mom," now works at Florida Sea Lion Encounters. She has an open invitation to visit the Keys and spend time with the seals.
"I can come and stay for a weekend, and act like I work at this place with them," Philos told Keys Weekly. Davey said DRC uses the same techniques as the seals' former trainers so the animals can build the same trust with their new caretakers.
The two Marathon facilities have teamed up before. Bligh told the paper they've worked together on manatee rescues over the last few years, and that the seals have opened the door to a deeper partnership. Manatees first connected the two facilities. Now a manatee pool is part of what keeps DRC's seals in town.
Visiting Either Side of the Partnership This Fall
If the story makes you want to drive up the Overseas Highway this weekend, here are the basics as each facility lists them.
Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key. DRC is open seven days a week. From September 8 through December 13, its hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with last admission at 2:30 p.m. It closes on Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26 this year. General admission is $37.50 for adults and $26.50 for children ages 4 to 12. Children 3 and under get in free. DRC also offers a membership that includes free admission for a year, which works well for anyone who stops by often. As of DRC's August 2026 animal profiles, Clyde, Raleigh and Samantha were on the center's roster.
Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters, Marathon. The aquarium's ticket page lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and $30 adult admission. That page dates from 2025, so check current prices before you go. The seals are living in a working rehab pool on a temporary basis, so call ahead if seeing them is the reason for your trip.
DRC asked for community donations when it took in the seven animals, and its December update repeated that request. Dolphin Life in Key Largo has asked for volunteers to help with animal care and guest education. If you've watched a turtle go back into the water at Sombrero Beach, you've already seen another side of this local network, which we wrote about in our piece on the winter turtle releases.
Here at Barefoot in the Keys, we love stories like this one, where two Marathon neighbors work out a problem together. If you're curious about life near the lagoons on Grassy Key or anywhere else in Marathon, we'd be glad to share what we know over coffee. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll tell you our favorite way to spend a morning on this end of the island.
