Saturday, August 31, 2013

Shamu

Sea World San Diego, CA
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Let me just say that I love Sea World! The first time I saw Shamu perform was a real wow! I have never seen such a big creature trained like what they do in the show! I also loved the old dolphin show story! The one where a "family" is invited to interact with Shamu in front of the crowd and the mom falls in the water! I was in shock when I first saw the show! Of course, it turned out that the "mom" is actually one of the trainers there. The funny thing is, everytime I take somebody to see that show, the part where the mom falls in the water really gets each and everyone that I've taken to Sea World. Well, except of course when I go with people who has seen the show before... Hee-hee! Well, of course now there's a new dolphin show, so don't worry about me spoiling the dolphin show for you! Well, unless they switched back to the old story, then, oops.. sorry! =D Of course, I don't have any photos of the dolphin show to post here... I do remember the pilot whale in the show named Bubbles!

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Here's the star of Sea World, Shamu! Isn't baby shamu cute? The baby was trying to imitate mom while mom was performing! The trainers are not allowed in the tank with the orca whales at the time the photo was taken. I don't know if they changed the rules again because the other times I visited, trainers were allowed in the pool and if you look at the photo where shamu is vertical, before shamu would have been pushing a trainer upwards. Hmm, maybe I should post some old photos of shamu with a trainer in the water...

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Another show that is fun at Sea World is the sea lion and otter show. They have changed the storyline a few times, but overall, it's been a fun show to watch. They also sometimes have a walrus come out as part of the show. The first ones I saw, the walrus was very old! After a while, I guess they retired him from the show and they now have a young walrus in training come out during the show when I tool this photo. It's funny too because you can tell that the walrus is still in training. I guess the amazing part really is how the heck they have been able to train all these creatures!

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Aside from the shows, they have animal exhibits and rides. Here's the flamingoes on exhibit. When you go looking for them, just follow your nose... Their poop smells! Hee-hee!

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Here's the polar bear! I love this exhibit too! One time we came to visit the polar bears, it was feeding time. The fish was put inside a barrel covered with some wood and ice to get the bear to work for his food. The polar bear tried using it's paws but was unsuccessful, so, the bear tipped the barrel and started jumping on it to get the contents out! If you're going to visit the polar bears, try to time it during feeding time!

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Here's another of my favorites there, the beluga whale! I love how white they are! They look like swimming chunks of ice unless you notice their faces!

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Okay, I guess I should stop saying another favorite, it seems like everything at Sea World is my favorite! Hee-hee! Here's some penguins! The cool thing about the exhibit is they have a bunch of different types of penguins there! They even have some warm weather penguins outside!

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Here's one of the birds on exhibit that lives in the cold areas. I think it's a puffin and if I remember correctly, it was able to swim in the water, like a penguin, but can actually fly! There's a lot more other animals at Sea World, but for now, these are just a few them. Did I tell you yet that I love Sea World? Hee-hee! =D