In the 1930s not only the Carnegie Institution, envisioning a "great laboratory of history" at St. Augustine,but prominent New Yorkers came south to experiment in the heretofore unknown. From a 1937 report:

   Seaward from the highway south of St. Augustine is Florida's newest town, Marineland, where a unique and truly amazing institution, the Marine Studios, has been established.

   Headed by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a group of prominent New Yorkers have formed a corporation with half a million dollars in capital, which constructed in 1937 a gigantic scenic aquarium in which large sea creatures never before seen in captivity are on public exhibition under conditions which not only make it possible for visitors to see them from above but to view them from below the water level.

Early Marineland postcard

   Scientists have had little opportunity to study marine life under controlled conditions, and the need for such facilities was felt. With the cooperation of Ilia Tolstoy, grandson of the great Russian novelist, and Roy P. Gates, a plan for meeting this need was developed.

   The resulting Marine Studios consist, primarily, of two huge open air tanks. One is a rectangle, 40 x 100 feet; the other a circular tank of 75 feet diameter. Watertight galleries enable observers to view the interior of the tanks from three different undersea levels, and also to look upward through the bottom of the rectangular tank.

   Difficult engineering problems had to be solved, to build suspended tanks so that the interiors would be visible from all angles, and to make the portholes absolutely free from leakage. The tanks are constructed of electrically-welded steel plates, lined inside with a two-inch non-chipping cement enamel.

   An immense amount of scientific research was necessary before work on the Marine Studios could be begun. It was necessary to find a place where the water was at a constant temperature the year around. Moreover, the water must be crystal-clear, otherwise the principal purpose, that of observing and studying sea creatures, would be defeated.

   At last a specimen of seawater obtained from the ocean near the Matanzas Inlet was found not only to have the requisite clarity but to have other properties which no other water had.

Fish placed in this water seemed to be rejuvenated. This water had been pumped up through a large deposit of coquina, lying four or five feet below the sand about 200 feet from the shore.  

   The coquina apparently acted as a filter, and the supply of water for the Marine Studios' tanks is obtained in the same way, pumped through the coquina bed and into the tanks at the rate of 3,600 gallons a minute.

   For capturing big fish alive a special boat has been built, equipped with a large submersible cage into which fish can be herded after being hooked or netted, and towed to Marineland to be floated from the cage into one of the tanks.

   Besides the scientific study possibilities in a field about which zoologists and biologists as yet know little, the Marine Studios make a fascinating educational exhibit.

   Because of the clearness of the water and the possibility of illuminating the interior of the tanks from all sides and below as well as from above, underwater movies of a quality never before achieved are also possible. 

   This year, give the gift of history, St. Augustine Bedtime Stories, dramatic accounts of famous people and events in St. Augustine's history. Information here.