Bubbles is Coming Home!

Marineland’s iconic Bubbles the whale is coming home to Rancho Palos Verdes.

The 28-foot fiberglass whale sculpture, which was kept in a city yard for more than three decades, was a popular RPV beacon back in the days when he greeted theme park guests.

Instantly identifiable to generations of visitors from all over the world, the Bubbles the whale statue was created in 1954 as the entrance monument to Marineland of the Pacific, holding court proudly until the park closed in 1987. The sculpture holds particular significance because it is a replica of the real, beloved whale Bubbles who once entertain guests at the theme park.

Nearly five years after preservation efforts began in earnest, and just in time to celebrate the city of Rancho Palos Verdes’s 50th Anniversary, Bubbles is being resurrected.

In 2019 RPV city councilwoman Susan Brooks helped lead the effort to refurbish Bubbles and have him placed at the new Point Vicente Interpretive Center entrance. Covid put the efforts to revamp Bubbles on hold until recently. In the last year, many people have shown interest in restoring this piece of Palos Verde’s history, including the city council’s unanimous vote to move forward with the restoration in August 2021.

“While the progress has been glacial, I’m hopeful. Call me an optimist, but I’m thinking Whale of a Day 2023 might be a time for unveiling or at the very least a rendering for serious fundraising,” says Jon Sansom, organizer of Preserve Our Whale (POW!) a grassroots effort to incorporate Marineland’s Bubbles the whale sculpture into the welcome monument at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center.

This fundraising campaign, organized by community
members like Sansom in coordination with the City
of Rancho Palos Verdes, is still looking for donations.
Restoration is expected to cost around $300,000
Although RPV’s 50th anniversary isn’t until September 2023, the official city celebration kicks off this coming September. Monthly events will commence with the ribbon cutting of the newly named Ken Dyda Civic Center. PV Magazine will continue to cover and preview all of the events and happenings surrounding the city’s 50th anniversary. Visit www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-bubbles-the-whale.