Marine World/Africa USA

Marine World/Africa USA was a tourist attraction located in Redwood Shores, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened.Origins of the Africa U.S.A. nameThere were two successive Africa U.S.A. parks in California, both associated with animal trainer Ralph Helfer. The first Africa U.S.A. in California was created in 1962 as a 600acre affection training compound by Ralph and Toni Helfer. It was located in Soledad Canyon near Palmdale, north of Los Angeles.Ivan Tors first discovered Clarence, the cross-eyed lion, at Africa, U.S.A. and it inspired him to create the film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965) and the spin-off television series Daktari, which was partly shot on location there. Judy the chimp, another star of the show, was also owned by Ralph Helfer.A few other shows such as Cowboy in Africa, Gentle Ben, as well as an episode of Star Trek ("Shore Leave") were also shot there. Helfer was providing both the location and the animals.In January 1969, Africa U.S.A. was struck by a powerful rainstorm over Soledad Canyon. The resulting severe flooding and mudslides in the canyons destroyed the compound, but only nine of Helfer's 1,500 animals had drowned.