Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. Warehouse 12. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. At the Baywater Marina, in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. Several times in Episode 6, of Season 5, "Everything is Illumenated". Dexter has rescued Lumen Pierce, a near victim of Boyd Fowler, and she is determined to get revenge against the men who abused her. Dexter does his best to talk her out of it at a seaside cafe, and even gives her plane tickets to go home. She goes to the airport, but doesn't get on the plane. Finally, while Dexter is stalking a killer at a beach restroom, he gets a panicky phone call from Lumen, saying she's at a warehouse and has shot one of her attackers. Dexter shows up at the warehouse, and is met by Lumen, who tells him the guy is dead, but that there was so much blood, she couldn't cope. He goes inside, and finds a pool of blood, but the body is gone. Spraying Luminol and using a light, he follows the trail of blood outside, and eventually finds the guy, in hiding, bloody but still alive. Lumen insists that he was one of her attackers, but she has no proof, and was even blindfolded during the attack, so Dexter isn't sure what to do. But when he and Lumen step into another room, the guy makes a phone call to his co-conspirators, telling them that Lumen is alive. Bad timing. Dexter overhears his confession, and kills him. Just then, Debra and the police arrive on the scene, following a report of a possible homicide. And worse, Lance Robinson, a killer that Dexter had tranquilized and stuffed in the trunk of his car, wakes up - and escapes. Dexter chases Lance (who trails plastic wrap like some runaway mummy), and is almost caught in the act by Debra and the cops, but he manages to catch Lance in the nick of time and kills him.

Dexter sends Lumen to his house, and arranges the two bodies so that it looks like Lance shot Lumen's attacker.

Vince Masuka, not unexpectedly, interprets the scene in sexual terms ("autoerotic mummification") and acts out his version of what happened (complete with sexual pantomime).

Dexter says that the blood matches Vince's theory, and that more or less closes things.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. An old factory.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. Down at the docks of the Los Angeles harbor, on Terminal Island.

This scene was shot at the former Star-Kist tuna cannery, at 1054 Ways Street, in San Pedro, CA. When Plant #4 was built, back in 1954, it was the largest tuna-packing facility in the world. The area was known then as Fish Harbor.

Here is an interesting look at the cannery back when it was producing 14,000 cases of Star-Kist tuna per day. The brand was made popular via their "Charlie the Tuna" TV ads.

In 1984, when competition from cheap labor in other countries became stiff, Star-Kist closed the plant, fired the workers, and opened a plant in Samoa. ("Sorry, Charlie.")

In 2002, Del Monte Foods bought Star-Kist from the Heinz company, and currently still owns the property. But the buildings remain vacant.

( Quite a lot of filming seems to be going on there lately, which isn't surprising.  Hollywood is always looking for colorful locations, especially vacant ones that are open for easy filming. )




Below is an aerial photo from the 1970's.






This is a Google StreetView of the door where Lumen comes out and meets Dexter when he
arrives at the warehouse. It's the 641,000 square-foot Main Plant of the former Star-Kist cannery.







Here is an aerial photo of the facility, with the key spots labeled. And here is a map link.


During this season, they filmed nearby for the scenes of Lumen's seaside cafe, Tuttle Bridge, and the Miami airport.


In previous seasons, they have filmed often in the San Pedro/Terminal Island area, including the cargo containers (where Dexter searched for a kidnapped Debra (in Season 1), the train car (where a copycat killer left a victim's remains, in Season 2), the dock where divers recovered the remains of Dexter's victims, the gang murder scene, and the related scenes of Little Chino's party house, the tagger chase, and Paul's funeral church.
Plus, nearby you'll also find Freebo's house, Billy Fleeter's house, Zack's house, Debra's Blue Room bar, the pier where Dexter met with Prado, the young pimp's motel, the apartment house where Angel & LaGuerta got shot at, and the warehouse where Trinity forced the woman to jump..

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  In previous seasons, I've usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using various clues from the scenes.  By the 5th season, though, I'd developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and would let me know in advance when something was about to film there.

Between those reports, and my own personal reconnaissance around town, by the time the first episode aired, I already knew most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only needed to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Kerry, Rick, Joel, Geoff, Ellen, Julie, Susan, Jeff, and others. My thanks to all of them.

This particular tip came from Rick, who let me know that they were filming there. (Thanks, Rick!)

And if you take a look at the outdoor scene where Debra meets Masuka, you'll see an distinctive line of blue lights glowing in the background.  That is the Vincent Thomas Bridge, in San Pedro (the same bridge you see peeking up over the Miami Airport). That's the bridge that leads to Terminal Island (where the cannery is located).