Atlantis Marine Park
Feeding the dolphins, c. 1985
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| Slogan | Atlantis marine park for the enrichment of mankind |
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| Location | Two Rocks, Western Australia, Australia |
| Coordinates | 31°29′47″S 115°35′11″E / 31.496348°S 115.586320°ECoordinates: 31°29′47″S 115°35′11″E / 31.496348°S 115.586320°E |
| Opened | 1981 |
| Closed | August 1990 |
| Status | Abandoned |
Atlantis Marine Park is an abandoned theme park built in 1981 in Two Rocks, a small fishing community 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The park was a major feature of Alan Bond's Yanchep Sun City plan. It closed in August 1990 due to financial difficulty.
In the 1970s Bond purchased 20,000 acres of land in Yanchep with a plan to build a large resort and residential area. The Park was constructed in 1981 with the hope that Perth's rapid expansion would be accompanied by an equal growth in tourism. Six months before the park was opened, seven bottlenose dolphins were caught locally and trained as performance animals for the next ten years. The park was opened by the Premier of Western Australia the Hon. Ray O'Connor and the chairman and president of the Tokyu Corporation Mr Noburu Gotoh. In his opening speech Mr Gotoh explained that Atlantis was the first element in an expansion plan to make the Yanchep Sun City a premier leisure recreation region.
In 1988, three female dolphin calves were born, which as a result of changes in regulations for holding marine mammals meant Atlantis would have to construct a larger dolphin enclosure. This, coupled with the park gradually losing money, was the reason for the owners closing Atlantis in August 1990.
Prior to the park's opening, seven bottlenose dolphins were caught from the local coastal population and were used as performance animals for the next ten years. At the time Atlantis closed in 1990, the park had nine dolphins, six wild born, and three captive born juveniles.
With the closure of the park, the owners Tokyu Corporation of Japan agreed to a proposal by Dr. Nick Gales, a marine park veterinarian and research scientist to fully fund the release of the animals to the wild, provided it would end their financial commitment to the dolphins. The project to release the animals into the wild began in March 1991; the rehabilitation program began in the park pools and eventually moved to a sea pen at the Two Rocks Marina in October 1991. The dolphins were fully released into the wild in January 1992.
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