How the Atlantis theme park, built to ‘enrich humanity’, was left abandoned, with only Neptune’s creepy shining head left

ATLANTIS Marine Park was opened in 1981 “for the enrichment of mankind” but has lain abandoned for the past 34 years.

Built in the suburb of Two Rocks on the northern edge of Perth, Australiait was the first element to turn the area into a leading recreational area.

Atlantis Marine Park has been abandoned for 34 yearsCredit: By-SA 2.0

A giant sculpture of King Neptune covered in graffiti before being restored in 2015Credit: By-SA 2.0

The abandoned theme park is on the list of national heritage that people can walk throughCredit: By-SA 2.0

The attraction was built in the hope that Perth's rapid expansion would be accompanied by an equal growth in tourism — The attraction was built in the hope that Perth’s rapid expansion would be accompanied by an equal growth in tourism

But just nine years after opening its doors to the booming tourism industry, the theme park was forced to close due to… financial difficulties and has remained empty ever since.

All that’s left now are countless rotting pools and strange ocean-themed sculptures, including the disembodied head of Jacques Cousteau – a French naval officer and oceanographer.

There’s also a giant sculpture of Neptune, whose eerie radiant head towers over his crumbling kingdom.

The Roman god of water and sea, which stands 10 meters high, was built by local artist Mark Le Buse and can still be seen in his trident.

Following the park’s closure, it was quickly fenced off after being covered in graffiti, but was eventually restored after being listed as a heritage site by the Western Australian Heritage Council in 2006.

In 2015, volunteers refurbished the King Neptune statue and reopened the area to visitors, who can wander around what remains of the site.

Last year, the King Neptune statue was added to the State Register of Heritage Places in recognition of Sun City’s place as the state’s first private investment project.

Elsewhere in the theme park there are a number of vacant swimming pools.

Not only did people enjoy it, but… animals.

Six months before the park opened, seven bottlenose dolphins were captured on site and trained as performance animals for the next ten years.

Inside a creepy, abandoned water park in South Africa, left to rot after the beach paradise became buried under sand

But after the park failed to be the moneymaker its creators had hoped for, the birth of three more dolphins in captivity proved to be the final nail in the coffin.

Regulations for dolphin enclosures had changed and legislation required the park to create a larger area for the dolphins.

However, coupled with its already declining cash flow, the park could not afford this and was forced to close in 1990.

But part of the park’s closure was an unusual agreement with research scientist and marine park veterinarian Dr. Nick Gales.

The park’s owners, Tokyu Corporation of Japanagreed to fully fund the release of the wildlife, on the condition that it would end their financial involvement with the dolphins

The dolphins were fully released into the wild in January 1992, but problems soon arose.

Some dolphins lost a lot of weight, while three of them were recaptured and returned to the sea cage.

The fate of the other dolphins is unclear, but reports occasionally come in from local fishermen claiming to have encountered unusually friendly dolphins in the area.

Elsewhere, a creepy abandoned water park in South Africa has been left to rot after being buried in the sand.

Enter the Macassar beach pavilion Cape Town was once a vibrant hub in the community, but is now a shadow of its former self.

And a creepy theme park once considered the best and biggest attraction in Venezuela is also rotting.

Abandoned, looted and torn apart – Diversions Grano de Oro has become known as a haunted ‘cemetery of attractions“.