beluga whales!

today was a fantastic day, it nearly ended in tears but worked out in the end. i found out at the admission gates that i had bought tickets for the san diego experience, not san antonio (i clicked the wrong link on the seaworld website). luckily they have beluga whales here too, and a free spot in the afternoon session so it all worked out okay in the end.

the belgua whales were amazing. we had about 30 mins in the pool with them. it was an incredible experience. the first one (lighter grey colour- pic above) was a young whale and was really cheeky, he kept ignoring the trainer and would have tantrums and spray water in her face and swim off when she asked him to do things, she was getting really frustrated. he was more relaxed so we got to pat him and float with him in the water. the older whale (the white one in the pics below) was more skittish so we just gave her instructions to do tricks and behaviours, and fed her fish, she was better behaved. they turn white as they get older, she was 31y. The seaworld people took some really nice professional photographs which i bought, but i cant scan them in til i get home- in the meantime these are a few which one of the trainers took with my camera when i was in the water...

 for the professional pic we had to lean down and give them a big hug. i kept laughing because it kept making funny singing noises and it's blowhole would be right by my ear.

 after the photo the whale took this huge breath and its blow hole sprayed all this air in my ear- very strange.

i also went to see their two shows, the killerwhale one called 'believe', and another show called 'azul'. seaworld is a bit different to what i expected- its not very educational at all, just purely entertainment. its more like a themepark than an aquarium. i can understand why peta and animal rights groups get a little upset with them. you cant view the whales unless you go to watch the show. there is no trainer talking during the shows, the whales just perform tricks to music. there are no information boards about the whales or conservation, which was disapointing. the show was really good though, i enjoyed seeing the whales. i went to this first one called azul, it has the belugas in it and some pacific dolphins. there are also mackaws and lots of divers/acrobats. its like a mini cirqudesole with animals mixed in. they swim with the whales and dolphins which was nice to watch, and the tanks are glass so you can see how easily they move underwater-amazing.

these are some pics from the killer whale show- believe. i went when i first arrived, and then i went again in the afternoon. The shows were completely different so that made me feel a bit better to think that the poor whales don't do the same tricks each time. I didn't realise they have so many whales! There are about 8 killer whales and apparnetly about 20 across all the seaworld parks. They also have a big breeding program, the had a killer whale calf born in jan 2010. it is just sooooo cute. she was swimming around in the tank with her mum when the mum was performing. she can do a few little tricks, she is so tiny. i took some pics of her too.

shamu- the male killer whale and star of the show

 mom and the baby (below)  :)

 mom and the baby again

i also went and fed some of the dolphins. it was a bit strange. there is an area called dolphin cove, and there is a tank the size of a big swimming pool filled with dolphins (about 15). they have four feeding times each day, and you line up and buy a tray of fish. you can buy as many trays as you like, and feed the dolphins. they say they have a quota so the dolphins don't get fat- but i think they just feed them and feed them to make money. i didnt want to miss the chance to get up close and pat one, so i bought my tray and fed them. they are only tiny little sardines, so i suppose thats why they can get away with it. the dolphins get a bit cheeky though, when you run out of fish, or if the kids dont feed them fast enough they get mad and start splashing you with their tails, the kids next to me ran out of fish and kept trying to pat the one big dolphin, he turned on his side and absolutely soaked them (and me included) with a big swipe of his tail fluke!

 this was another highlight of my day- some awesome poison arrow frogs. they were in a tiny hidden display in the corner of one of the gift shops! i was lucky to see them! how beautiful are their colours?! i wasnt sure they were real until one started crawling onto the leaf.

 they also had an aquarium with a few good collections of fish tanks, lots of basic stuff, nothing too fancy but it was nice to watch the fish and relax in the aircon for a bit (very hot here in texas!)

so that was my trip to seaworld- so glad that i did the beluga experience, was definitely worth it! i went on a ghost tour this evening which was good fun. didn't see any ghosts (surprise surprise) but got to see some great parts of the city and learn some interesting history. better get to bed, have a super long tour of the city tomorrow- dont know how i am going to get myself out of bed in the morning, im shattered! should have a great day though once i get going. x