Mandy Rodriguez

Co-Founder/Chief Operating Officer

Guest Speaker

If you happen to meet Mandy on the grounds of Dolphin Research Center he may introduce himself as the gardener.  While he does love getting his hands dirty, this humble visionary is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dolphin Research  Center. His philosophy of animal training is the backbone of DRC’s Animal Care and Training Department, and the DRCTI courses.  He pioneered facility construction for natural habitats, co-designing the fencing DRC uses with a dolphin partner named Kibby.  Working with DRC’s Animal Care and Habitat team, Mandy continues to make advancements in care and husbandry for marine mammals, including the threatened Florida manatees he helps rescue. Mandy has also been the recipient of the lifetime achievement award from IMATA.

Mandy says the dolphins saved him when as a young Marine returning from Vietnam, they gave him their love and trust.  That inspired him to create DRC’s ground-breaking programs connecting marine mammals with wounded warriors.  Mandy leads DRC’s Research department, developing and participating in projects that teach us more of the cognitive abilities of marine mammals. In all that he does, Mandy is the passionate founder and leader of DRC and he continues to set the bar higher for the best welfare and care of our marine mammal friends.

Mandy’s first position working with animals was cleaning out the sea lion cages at the Miami Seaquarium. He rose to Assistant Trainer before moving to the New England Aquarium in Boston where he met his partner, Jayne. NEA had a rule about married couples working together, so they moved to Flipper's Sea School in Grassy Key in 1973.  In 1977 Flipper’s Sea School became the Institute for Delphinid Research founded by Jean-Paul Fortum-Gouin, an advocate for the great whales.  Mandy’s pioneering language work with dolphins supported the goal of showcasing dolphin’s intelligence to help accomplish a ban on whaling, which was successfully passed in 1982.

When Jean-Paul offered the facility to Jayne and Mandy in 1984, they began with little more than a dream. "I'm a dreamer," Mandy says, "and I'm a good dreamer. I like to see things that other people don't see, put them together, and then leave them for other people to run. So I saw the possibilities...I had the dreams, and Jayne was a very practical, detail-type person. So we decided to take the chance."  Mandy and Jayne made a promise to Theresa, the dolphin matriarch at DRC at that time.  They told Theresa that she and all of the marine mammals who lived there would have a home for life.  While there were difficult times over the years including alternating payment of fish companies when the money was tight, that promise still stands strong. Because of Mandy’s tireless efforts and dedication to DRC’s philosophy, today Dolphin Research Center is a leader in the marine mammal community.