Episode 5 of the podcast covers the park’s history from the years of 1973 through 1978. It focuses on the short-lived Twentieth Century Fox era where the film producer Irwin “The Master of Disaster” Allen attempted to boost the park’s attendance through a Winter Wonderland promotion that ended in a barrage of lawsuits.

The show also looks at how Orky and Corky became the first breeding pair of captive killer whales in history. But sadly, the baby died after just 15 days.

We also talk to some of Marineland’s incredible mammal trainers, including Bud Krames and Gail Laule, who explain how the park used groundbreaking training methods to teach marine mammals to perform impressive breaches, flips, and grab a fish out of the trainer’s mouth.

The trainers also provide valuable insight into how their relationships with the animals were based on cooperation and reinforcement, not coercion. “That’s a big part of training. If they’ll only work for food, you’re going to have problems,” Krames told the podcast. “But if you can find other reinforcements, you’re in much better shape.”

Finally, in late 1977, Hanna-Barbera purchased Marineland and temporarily closed the park to make improvements in time for the summer season. However, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes slow-walked its approvals for the upgrades, puting the park’s future in peril. Would Marineland be ready to open in the summer of 1978 or would its grand reopening as “Hanna-Barbera’s Marineland” be scuttled by red tape?