Flamingo Parade

While Fred and I were on the Pelagic Bird Trip (see earlier posts), I met Mary who works with the birds at SeaWorld. She told us, if we came to SeaWorld, not to miss the Flamingo Parade every day at 10:30. We managed to find them (it wasn't really difficult--we looked for flamingos in the middle of the sidewalk and a crowd of people taking photographs.)

These are young flamingos who have been hand-raised. I think they are about six months old at this point and just beginning to get their color, which comes from their diet. In the picture above, you can see a bit of the salmon color under the wing, which Mary said is the first place it appears. Below, Mary is bonding with a flamingo.

This handler was one of the two who hand-raised the flamingos and this one in particular was very bonded to him. It kept approaching him and nudging him with its head. He would mimic the flamingo behavior to include making croaking calls. The flamingos have a strong flock instinct, and when he would leave, they would all follow.

Sea World Dolphin Show

We decided to sit way up at the Dolphin show. There were seats in the "spash zone" which we declined to take. The second picture shows why. The dolphins and pilot whales started the show by swimming around the enclosure purposely splashing water over the edge.

One can't really get a true perspective on how high this dolphin was jumping. It was incredible!

This dolphin was propelling itself around the pool "standing up!"

Dolphin Show

I believe this was an audience participant? At least it was supposed to be. Glad it wasn't me.

At the end of the show, each of the handlers did a stunt with their charge.

Pilot Whale

As part of the Dolphin Show, this pilot whale did various tricks, including this pose on a shelf.

Penguin

The main penguin exhibit was closed but we could look at these Magellanic penguins outside. There were about a dozen of them swimming very actively, popping up out of the water then diving again.

Polar Bears

You know I would have pictures of the polar bears, didn't you? This was the best polar bear exhibit I'd seen. We could watch them from above the water and below. There were two bears, and they were very active. They spent a lot of time playing with floating objects in the water. It was hysterical to see one of them trying to climb on the little plastic iceburg in the middle picture. Of course, it sank and he fell off!

Beluga Whales

Seaworld had a great Beluga whale exhibit. I didn't know anything about them, including the fact that they were white. Beluga means "white" in Russian. This was another exhibit where we could see the creatures from above and below the water.

This creepy looking fish was swimming with the manatees.

Manatees

We were surprised to see that San Diego SeaWorld had a manatee exhibit. Injured manatees from Florida are flown to San Diego for rehabilitation. When healthy, they are returned to Florida and the wild. In the lower two pictures you can see the white scars from propellers on one of the manatees. In the middle picture, the scar is in the lower right corner of the picture. It was a massive scar; only a little is shown in the picture. It was awe inspiring to see these incredible creatures float gently through the water like giant balloons.

Sea Turtles and Shamu

It took us awhile, but we finally found the sea turtles. There about seven or eight that we could see, and they weren't all the same kind, it did not appear. This one's shell was overlapping plates, like a suit of armor.

We were going to attend the Shamu show, but the noon show was cancelled due to "technical difficulties." Ahh, those killer whales are so hard to mike up, aren't they?
We did go to Shamu enclosure to see them. You could go to a lower level and watch them underwater. As this one circled, these two kids would race it along the glass.

Goodbye to SeaWorld

When we entered SeaWorld, a Penguin greeted us. As we left, this Walrus waved good-bye.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

--Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter
http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/walrus.html

Good-bye to Seaworld

When we arrived at Seaworld, a Penguin greeted us. Now, as we left after a very satisfying day, this mournful Walrus was at the gate waving goodbye. I guess the handler was there to keep him from mauling anyone, LOL!

Good Morning!

No words necessary.

Hot Tub on a cool day

Fred and I decided to enjoy the hot tub for a bit this morning.