Kara-Dag dolphinarium, Marine research center in Kurortne, Russia

Kara-Dag dolphinarium is a facility with two pools for marine mammals, with the main pool housed in an enclosed building designed for observation and work with the animals. The second pool provides additional space for the marine life kept on site.

In the late 1960s, Soviet dolphin research expanded and the Karadag biological station became the first institution to keep dolphins in a pool, a task assigned to the USSR Ministry of Defence and Leningrad naval sailors. After acoustic studies with the Andreyev Acoustics Institute, a hydrobionic complex opened officially in August 1977, attended by Academy of Sciences president Boris Paton. After 1991, with no state funding for the animals, the staff created a commercial show with dolphins and fur seals.

The dolphinarium sits on the grounds of the Karadag Biological Station, a research centre of the Kar-Dag nature reserve, and shares the site with an aquarium exhibiting fish of the Black Sea. Its shows with Black Sea bottlenose dolphins and northern fur seals were created after the Soviet Union dissolved, when state funding for the animals stopped and the staff had to find a way to pay for their upkeep.

The facility sits within a protected nature reserve, so visiting is best during warm months. Performances last about 45 minutes and can be viewed from both ground level and an upper balcony for different perspectives.

The dolphinarium grew out of Soviet military research: in the late 1960s the Karadag biological station was the first institution in the USSR to keep dolphins in a pool, work overseen by the Ministry of Defence and Leningrad naval personnel. The hydrobionic complex itself opened in August 1977, with Boris Paton, president of the Academy of Sciences, present.