- March 25, 2026
Marineland Dolphin Adventure has raised $20,000 in a St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser event and named a new director or research and education.
The oceanarium set a goal to raise $10,000 in individual donations after an anonymous donor offered to match all donations made between March 14 and March 21 for St. Patrick’s Day. In total, Marineland Dolphin Adventure received $20,000 in donations, according to its Facebook.
“It's an amazing community,” Marineland Director Jack Kassewitz told the Observer in a phone interview. “I just got to tell you, I've lived in not a lot of places, but this is the most sensitive, caring community I've ever been.”
The funds will go toward Dolphin Adventures’ ongoing efforts to enhance its water quality and treatment systems, “ensuring that the Marineland animal family continues to thrive in clean, healthy, and beautifully maintained marine habitats for years to come.”
Kassewitz took over operations of Marineland in late 2025 after a coalition of volunteers and stakeholders got together to save the oceanarium from being purchased by developers. Now, Kassewitz and the Marineland team are working to modernize the site, with an emphasis on education and research.
As part of that initiative, on March 20 the oceanarium announced that Jason Bruck has been named the new director of research and education for Marineland Dolphin Adventure.
Bruck is a marine mammal scientist and associate professor of biology at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Bruck helped develop a new Aquatic Biology concentration at the university and runs the Bruck Lab which has graduated numerous science professionals at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
This appointment signals “a renewed emphasis at the historic facility on science, education, and conservation” at Marineland, a press release said.
"This is a very exciting time both for Marineland and for marine mammal science in the region," Bruck said. "As a scientist who has continued some of the work of previous Directors of Research for Marineland, I am keenly aware of the honor and responsibility this title carries."
Bruck is known for his two decades of research on dolphin communication and cognition. The Bruck Lab is also focused on next-generation drone development, creating the first drone capable of blow collection from dolphins and porpoises for use in wild animal health assessments.
Bruck is also a former K-12 educator, and is excited about opportunities to reach younger students. He and his graduate students will be conducting the 2026 summer camps, giving students ages 7-17 unprecedented access to researchers as they learn about the ways scientists study the sea, the press release said.
Kassewitz said Bruck has “impeccable” credentials.
“The group that got together, the people who saved Marineland, one of the promises we made…was we would be bringing in research and education,” Kassewitz said. “And bringing in Dr. Bruck is the first achievement we had towards those goals.”
Bruck's academic appointments will allow new opportunities for university collaborations with Marineland, both in Florida as well as in Texas at Bruck's home university, the press release said.
Kassewitz said the focus on education and research is a “restoration of the way Marineland was once.”
“We're taking it back, and yet still going forward in terms of the importance of good research, good scientific research,” he said.
Marineland Dolphin Adventure is also looking forward to the spring and summer tourism seasons. In addition to reinstating the oceanarium’s immersion program, Kassewitz said they’ll be announcing two new programs in mid April.
“They are what I believe to be some of the most exciting new programs that's been in Marineland in a long time,” he said.
