The were in fact three facilities that displayed dolphins in Southend between 1969 and 1975.
The first was a summer show in 1969 that was housed in the Kursaal amusement centre. The show was owned by James (Jim) Tiebor: an American by birth whose father had been the well known sea lion trainer Roland Tiebor. Jim Tiebor had moved from the United States to Germany where he based his company the Florida Dolphin Shows which supplied animal shows to various theme parks and attractions in Europe. The two dolphins at the Kursaal were Sinbad and Sally. These two animals returned to Germany at the end of the 1969 season.
Their first Southend dolphinarium opened in 1971 at the Westcliff-on-Sea seawater swimming pool. The pool had become vacant due to the construction of a new indoor swimming pool in Southend. The dolphinarium operated for one season before the site was purchased by the Brent Walker Leisure group for redevelopment.
They then constructed a new pool for the 1972 season on the east side of the pier, in a site that was originally a children's puppet theatre. The dolphinarium operated until 1975. In this last season it featured a dolphin named Speedy. The site was subsequently abandoned by the owners, became derelict, and was eventually demolished. It was later taken over by the adjacent Adventure Island Theme Park and transformed into a crazy golf course.
A Review of Dolphinaria states regarding the last dolphinarium at Southend.
An outdoor exhibit, with a 10.70 m diameter, 2.13-2.44 m deep plastic lined sunken pool. Open for about 10 weeks in summer, with dolphins wintering at Margate, at winter shows in the UK and abroad or exported. Williamson and Schomberg (1976) report that an educational lecture was available on request. Mr Holloway and Mr Franklin are noted as trainers in 1974.
See an article from the Southend Timeline web page for more information on dolphin displays in Southend HERE.
