| Date opened | 1984 |
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| Location | Grassy Key, Florida, USA |
| Number of animals | 26 |
| Number of species | 2 |
| Memberships | Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums / AMMPA |
| Major exhibits | Dolphin lagoons, California Sea Lion lagoon |
| Website | http://www.dolphins.org |
The Dolphin Research Center is a dolphinarium on Grassy Key, Florida. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) series of saltwater lagoons carved out of the shoreline is home to a family of bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions. It features experiences where visitors can learn about marine mammals and the environment and also swim with, hand-signal, or enjoy other interactive programs with the dolphins.
It opened in 1958 as Santini's Porpoise School, a roadside attraction owned by Milton Santini, a Corsican dolphin trainer. One of the dolphins, Mitzi, starred in the Flipper movie. The facility became known as Flipper's Sea School after its sale to an entertainment conglomerate in 1972. Five years later, whale conservationist Jean Paul Fortom-Gouin acquired the center, renaming it the Institute for Delphinid Research and closing it to the public.
When the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on whaling in 1983, Fortom-Gouin transferred the business to his general manager and head trainer, Jayne Shannon Rodriguez and Armando "Mandy" Rodriguez. They founded the center as the nonprofit Dolphin Research Center in February, 1984.
Dolphin Research Center's mission is to promote the peaceful coexistence between marine mammals, humans and the environment we share through research and education and to operate for the advancement of such research and education.
The facility is open daily to the public with informative narrated behavior sessions and educational presentations offered throughout the day. There are also a number of interactive programs available.
DRC's Dolphin Camp, Teen DolphinLab classes, and Adult DolphinLab courses offer week-long educational opportunities for various age groups. All of the Adult courses are college-accredited.
The center's research activities are ongoing and largely focus on marine mammal cognition, behavior and husbandry. In 2005, DRC's research on Understanding of the Concept of Numerically 'Less' in Bottlenose Dolphins was published by the Journal of Comparative Psychology. In 2009, Animal Cognition published the study on What do Dolphins Understand about Hidden Objects? In 2010, the International Journal of Comparative Psychology published Dolphin Research Center's study on Blindfolded Imitation in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The facility has been featured in numerous television programs worldwide.
Most of the resident pod members were born at the facility. Others joined the family for a variety of reasons.
Dolphin Research Center received an addition to their family in January 2008. Jax, the young bottlenose dolphin, was a victim of a shark attack or boat strike and was found off of Jacksonville, Florida. Jax was rehabilitated at Gulf World Marine Park before moving to DRC permanently. In September 2010 a young dolphin was found in Louisiana, covered in oil. After successfully recovering from all of his injuries, Louie was deemed non releasable by the US government. He joined the DRC family in February 2011, named Louie from the location he came from.
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