Things You Might Not Have Known About SeaWorld!

 

almost everyone knows about Shamu the  most famous whale next to Moby Dick and  Free Willy but what you don't know about  her home may surprise you today we're  talking about things you might not know  about SeaWorld number 10 new park opens  in 1964 SeaWorld first opened in San  Diego California at the time the park  only had a few sea lions dolphins and  six attractions spread out on a 22 acre  lot in its first year of operation  SeaWorld attracted over 400,000  attendees before orcas were in the  picture  SeaWorld was known for its dolphin show  that took place in an enclosed area of  Mission Bay another attraction that was  available when the park opened was the  Japanese village  its main attraction was a saltwater pool  where Japanese women dough for oysters  that contained pearls the aim for this  portion of the park was to allow  attendees to see another part of the  world and experience their culture from  then the park has grown to a hundred and  eighty-nine acres and has over 20 rides  and attractions the next park to open  was in 1973 after the success of Disney  World  SeaWorld Orlando opened December 15 1973  as of today the park has grown to 200  acres and has over 15 rides and  attractions the third major park to open  was in San Antonio Texas in 1988 it is  now the largest park at 250 acres but  has the fewest attractions at just over  ten number nine Shamu the first Orca to  grace the park was named Shamu the  fourth orca whale ever captured she was  sold to SeaWorld San Diego in 1965 she  performed in a dr. Dolittle themed show  until Shamu was retired in 1971 after an  incident with her trainer since then  there have been many other Shamu whales  the name became synonymous with the star  of the Orca show as well as the names  namu and Ramu the first baby Orca to be  bred in captivity and survived was named  Kalina born in 1958 she was later  renamed baby Shamu at the Orlando Park  and the most recent Shamu was a large  whale named Tilikum there has been a  Shamu in every SeaWorld Park and for a  time Shamu was in all three parks at the  same time performing a show called  believe some of the various shows that  Shamu has been the star of include Shamu  goes to college Shamu the Yankee Doodle  whale Shamu 25th anniversary baby Shamu  elevation and the Shambu adventure  number eight whale population SeaWorld  is home to many orca whales but you'd be  surprised at just how many live at the  parks SeaWorld San Diego has ten Corky  ii ulysses orchid nakai akaike Kalia  keet shoka Makani and Amaya Orlando has  five Mikiko Melia trua  Katina and Milani San Antonio has 5q quo  or Chi for short Takara Sakaki 2r and  Kamiya all of sea world's whales range  from four years to over 50 years old and  as of 2019 SeaWorld has stated that they  will no longer be using orcas for shows  only experiences and educational  purposes orcas aren't the only kind of  whales SeaWorld has they have pilot  whales gray whales white sighted pacific  dolphins and they have belugas on  display at the San Antonio park that you  can even swim with number seven where do  they live these whales are pretty  impressive but where do they live within  the park SeaWorld San Diego has five  main pools which vary in size but  collectively they hold over five million  eight hundred twenty thousand gallons  the deepest pool pool a or the show pool  is about 35 feet deep 170 feet long and  80 feet wide it holds two million two  hundred thousand gallons the smallest  pool is the medical pool or pool D it's  only nine feet deep 53 feet long and 25  feet wide holding 80,000 gallons the  whales don't spend too much time in the  medical pool just song enough to be  treated and then sent back with the pod  number six thrills with all of the  animals you're likely to see at the  SeaWorld Park you would think it would  be slacking in the roller coaster and  rides department think again there are  nearly 40 rides to explore throughout  the three parks some notable rides are  the electric eel in San Diego the  fastest roller coaster in the city  Orlando's Manta a one-of-a-kind  experience that takes riders headfirst  into adventure and the great white of  San Antonio with 360 degree flips  corkscrews and curves at 50 miles an  hour two rides that are shared between  all three parks are the rapids and  journey to atlantis' flume ride if you  get to the park ride as it opens you can  sometimes see the flamingo parade this  happens when the flamingos are being  brought from their night enclosure to  their daytime home if  animal interactions are more up your  alley there are various in-person  interactions that SeaWorld offers  including penguins dolphins sea lions  sea otters and even sharks number five  not just shows originally owned by  anheuser-busch SeaWorld has a  Conservation Fund with 100% of donations  going to it  the SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation  Fund gives every Park attendee an  opportunity to make a difference each  year over 1 million dollars is donated  to various conservation projects with a  lifetime donation of over 9 million  dollars these projects include over  30,000 rescues hundreds of habitats  being protected and making strides to  help the conservation of endangered  species around the globe partnering with  over 800 organizations SeaWorld has  donated to numerous projects including  introducing cheetah to their native  ranges in Namibia to hiring guards to  protect elephants from poachers not only  does SeaWorld and its affiliates help  these more well-known conservation  programs they also help support smaller  outreaches such as the Mexican  government's vaquita CPR conservation  plan this small species of porpoise are  only found in mexico's gulf of  california and are the most critically  endangered marine mammal in the world  the mission of the vaquita CPR is to  rescue rehabilitate and release these  creatures into an environment that is  safe and far away from the fishing nets  they continually get caught in number  for other parks most people know about  the three main SeaWorld Parks but what  some might not know is there was another  park located in Aurora Ohio SeaWorld  Ohio was the second park to be opened  following the success of San Diego six  years prior this 25 acre Marine Park  opened in 1970 bringing in over 5,500  guests in its first day it had several  stadiums and pavilions that hosted orcas  dolphins sea lions and other various  shows and exhibits the now 232 acre park  unfortunately closed in 2000 due to a  non-compete clause with a neighboring  water park and reopened as Six Flags  Worlds of Adventure the following year  finally the park got some thrill rides  sea world's next enterprise is set to  open in Abu Dhabi it will be the first  SeaWorld to not have orcas living on its  property other parks owned by the same  company SeaWorld Entertainment include  Discovery Cove Orlando a full resort  with dolphin encounters Aquatica Orlando  and  San Diego a water park Busch Gardens  Tampa and Williamsburg  a theme park Adventure Island a water  park Discovery Point a daycare and Child  Development Center and Sesame Place a  Sesame Street themed Park  number three rescue efforts SeaWorld has  helped rescue over 35,000 various  animals around the globe in the last 50  years this includes seven hundred and  sixteen manatees eight thousand 133  pinnipeds winter seals Morrises etc 533  cetaceans whales and dolphins and over  20 thousand other animals they're  volunteers and veterinary experts are on  call 24/7 365 always ready and willing  to lend a helping hand one of the most  successful rescue and releases is the  story of Laguna the manatee SeaWorld  Orlando in conjunction with manatee  rescue and rehabilitation partnership  rescued the young manatee in 2017 after  suffering multiple boat strikes to her  neck and head which are unfortunately  the most common injury that manatees  sustained volunteers and veterinarians  were able to retrieve the injured mammal  and brought her back to SeaWorld  Orlando's manatee rehabilitation area  one of only four critical care  facilities for manatees Laguna was able  to make a full recovery and was returned  to the water after one year of  rehabilitation other success stories  include Gale a short-finned pilot whale  that beached herself and JJ the grey  whale an orphaned calf released when she  was strong enough to be alone all  rescues made by SeaWorld and its  affiliates have the goal to rehabilitate  and release but sometimes some animals  aren't clear to return to their natural  habitat when that happens SeaWorld and  their aquariums take these animals into  their care giving them forever homes  number two tragedy strikes unfortunately  not everything is smiles and laughter at  SeaWorld  sometimes accidents happen keep in mind  the trainers in the park are working  with wild animals whales and dolphins  have not been domesticated like cats or  dogs and therefore they aren't  accustomed to living with humans in the  same way there have been a few cases of  accidents involving trainers and their  animals the most famous incident  involved an orca named Tilikum and his  trainer Dawn Brancheau this 40-year old  trainer who had 15 years of experience  with the large whales was performing  with silicum as usual when he grabbed  her by the arm and pulled her into the  water sustaining multiple fatal injuries  another incident involving the whales  was when another trainer Ken Peter  was pulled under the water by his foot  Kasatka helped Peters under the water  for almost a minute before allowing him  to resurface Peters kept calm as she  repeatedly pulled him under and was able  to calm the Orca until she left the  trainer go he survived and only  sustained minor injuries to his ankle  and foot these incidences and more have  allowed the rules and regulations to  change in order to keep trainers safe  and his accident free as possible for  example some of the shows have been  updated so that their trainer never gets  in the water with the whales number one  original plans the original idea for the  park was meant to be an underwater  restaurant and slowly blossomed into  some truly interesting ideas for UCLA  graduates George Millay  Milton shed Dave demote and Ken Norris  had the idea but technical and  feasibility put a stop to that idea  however it gave birth to the idea of the  major marine zoological facility that  SeaWorld is today SeaWorld was up  against another major contender called  seal and seal and was the first to  propose having orcas and sharks in the  same enclosure  the original shows that were planned  involved three sea lions a small army of  penguins and a pilot whale some other  creatures they proposed to train include  porpoises sea turtles elephant seals and  walruses have you ever been to SeaWorld  tell us your experience in the comments  below and as always thanks for reading