10/29/26 - Four Sea Lions Dead. The Exploitation Continues.
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Four sea lions owned by Sea Lion Splash died in less than three months this summer. Bruce, Mahi, Sake, and Marina are gone. The businesses using sea lions for traveling shows and paid encounters continue.
CompassionWorks International has submitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting an investigation into the deaths and the care of surviving animals. We are also calling on Sea Lion Splash and its affiliated operation, FL Sea Lion Encounters, to end their commercial exploitation of sea lions.
Bruce — June 14: asphyxiation caused by obstruction of the trachea by an infiltrating lipoma, a fatty growth.
Mahi — July 8: pulmonary edema.
Sake — July 8: pulmonary edema.
Marina — August 26: acute stress hypothermia.
Mahi and Sake died on the same day, with the same recorded cause. That warrants close examination of their medical histories and the circumstances surrounding both deaths. The inventory alone does not establish a shared underlying cause, neglect, or whether any death could have been prevented.
NOAA relies on information reported by owners and facilities. These entries are a starting point for scrutiny, not a substitute for veterinary records and necropsy findings. The traveling-facility designation also does not establish the precise physical location of each death.
Two settings, continuing exploitation
Sea Lion Splash transports animals to fairs and festivals for performances. Its booking materials describe portable pools and multiple daily shows. CWI’s earlier campaign documented the long traveling-show history of Stella and Kitty and urged venues to stop booking the act.
The affiliated FL Sea Lion Encounters markets hands-on experiences in Myakka City, Florida. Its website promotes small-group encounters and describes them as educational. For CWI, changing the setting from a fairground to a paid encounter facility does not make an animal’s continued use for entertainment acceptable.
Florida corporate records connect the operations: both list the same Myakka City principal address, and James Earhart is listed as a member of Sea Lion Splash and a director of FL Sea Lion Encounters. They are separate legal entities with shared leadership and an address—not interchangeable business names.
The surviving animals extend beyond one property
NOAA’s October inventory lists 19 living sea lions owned by Sea Lion Splash: 15 under its traveling-facility designation and four at other facilities. Wahoo and Tuna are listed at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Nero at Ocean Connections PCB, and Grommet at Ocean Connections Pigeon Forge.
Nineteen is an ownership figure, not a verified headcount at either operation’s property. The inventory identifies recorded placements; it does not explain the commercial arrangements behind them.
Among the surviving animals, Easton and Salsa have been the subject of reported welfare concerns in Myakka City. An October 17 report by TideBreakers alleged eye and skin problems and raised concerns about their pools and access to appropriate care. These allegations require independent investigation; they are not established USDA findings.
Protection now. Retirement beyond entertainment.
CWI’s October 18 complaint asks USDA to investigate all four deaths, assess veterinary care and husbandry, and inspect the welfare of surviving animals. We requested prompt scrutiny by a veterinarian experienced with marine mammals, review of relevant records, and protective measures where needed. Where adequate care cannot be provided onsite, appropriate placement elsewhere should be considered with veterinary assessment of transport risks.
Immediate protection is essential. But correcting conditions while continuing performances and paid interactions would leave the underlying exploitation intact. Retirement must mean freedom from the obligation to entertain paying customers.
CWI is urging both operations to permanently end traveling performances and commercial encounters, stop breeding or acquiring sea lions for entertainment, and work with qualified independent experts on retirement and placement plans. Those plans must address each animal’s health, social relationships, long-term care, and funding.
