LA’s Own Marineland Podcast Episode 3: “Hello Hollywood, Bye, Bye Bimbo” By Writer and Podcaster Tod Perry

The following is the third article in a 12-part series covering “LA’s Own Marineland,” a podcast documentary on the history of the oceanarium produced, written, and hosted by writer-podcaster Tod Perry. The first article in the series, “The Birth of Marineland,” which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the show’s genesis and production, can be read here.

Episode 3 of the podcast covering 1964 to 1968, discusses how Marineland became a popular location for film and TV shows in the ‘60s. It also covers how Bimbo the pilot whale’s troubles led Marineland staff to make a tough decision about his future. We also talk to Mike Drews, who recounts the dramatic night that Orky the killer whale was brought to the park from British Columbia.

In 1965, the original cast of “The Munsters” visited Marineland looking for a pet for young Eddie in the big fish tank. Also in 1965, Lucille Ball stopped by the park for an episode of her “Lucy Show,” where she was toyed with by a frisky dolphin and a rambunctious sea lion.

In 1968 the king of Rock ‘n Roll, Elvis Presley came to Marineland for a scene in “Live a Little, Love a Little.” In the film, the King plays a newspaper photographer who takes pictures of Susan Henning as a mermaid feeding Swifty, the false killer whale.

"He came out to Marineland to do a movie, and originally it was going to be called 'Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime,’ they changed the name," trainer Larry Clark recalled. "They would stay at the Marineland hotel a couple of days a week instead of driving up all the way into Hollywood ... So [Elvis] would come into the bar and buy us drinks. He was a nice guy."

At the time, the TV shows weren’t the only thing creating drama at the park. There was a lot going down in the pilot whale tank, too. Bimbo, a 20-foot-long, 6,000-pound male pilot whale, charged a 2-foot by 4-foot observation window, shattering the one-and-a-half-inch-thick glass. The broken glass resulted in four visitors being sent to the hospital and the tank losing 350,000 gallons of water. This event forced Marineland’s curators to make the tough decision to return him to the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, Mike Drews tells the story of how he and his father, Marineland’s contractor Harold Drews, boarded a D-6 airplane and flew to Port Hardy, British Columbia, to bring the original Orky, the killer whale, to Marineland. But the mission became perilous when an engine blew out on the plane.

“I’m not an emotional guy, but that was quite an experience,” Drews told the podcast.

But before you listen to the show, there is one warning: If you listen to this podcast while seated in the first five rows of the Killer Whale Coliseum, you will get wet. You may get soaked.

Subscribe to “LA’s Own Marineland" on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, or Pandora. Learn more about the show at MarinelandPodcast.com. 

You can also listen to the show on YouTube: