Fun at SeaWorld San Diego
The original SeaWorld, which is an aquatically inspired theme park, is located in San Diego, California. I, along with my younger brother’s family, visited it in 2006. This year is the 60th anniversary of this park so I decided to give an account of our adventures. There have been quite a few changes since the first SeaWorld opened, our visit, and now. I will mention some of the changes.
SeaWorld San Diego opened March 21, 1964 on 21 acres along the shore of San Diego’s Mission Bay with several dolphins, sea lions, and two saltwater aquariums. Shamu, the first healthy orca to be caught intentionally, came to the park in December 1965 from a Seattle aquarium. While Shamu died in 1971 her name continues to be used as the stage name for some of SeaWorld’s shows. The first show we went to was the Orca Encounter featuring the park’s killer whales.
When we visited trainers would ride the whales
and do some tricks.
Due to the 2010 death of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau, and subsequent public backlash from the 2013 documentary Blackfish, SeaWorld ended their orca theatrical shows in San Diego in January 2017. Now the show highlights the orca’s play styles, communication skills and hunting techniques.
Multiple orcas and trainers were involved.
They even managed to splash some of the audience.
The second show we went to was Dolphin Adventures which featured dolphins and pilot whales.
For me this brought back memories of the 1960’s Flipper TV show were the dolphin did this maneuver frequently.
I did not realize how high dolphins could jump.
There was also a pilot whale which actually is not a whale but is an oceanic dolphin. Their black bodies make them stand out in the ocean. Pilot whales have a social nature and live in tight-knit groups known as pods, which can vary in size from small groups of 10 individuals to up to 1,000 members. The animal’s name was because pods were believed to be piloted by a leader.
Now it was our turn to be splashed by the pilot whale.
SeaWorld opened its second park, SeaWorld Ohio in 1970, SeaWorld Orlando in 1973, SeaWorld San Antonio in 1988, and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi in 2023. In February 2001 the SeaWorld Ohio park was sold to Six Flags, Inc thus was no longer a SeaWorld park. Returning to SeaWorld San Diego there also were some animal attractions such as these flamingos.
A Wild Arctic area which included Polar bears.
The third show we went to had sea lions.
One of which jumped from a second story platform
into the water.
This show also had a cute little otter
and a very big walrus.
SeaWorld has programs to advance the conservation of marine life in and outside its parks. The parks also have helped to develop practices for the care and breeding of marine mammals in captivity, and employees routinely lead or assist in the rescue and care to reintroduce the injured to the wild. SeaWorld San Diego has pools where one can get close to some marine life and if you are careful can pick up a sea star or touch a sea urchin.
Some of the SeaWorld San Diego aquariums have windows where one can get a close view of sharks and other fish.
The final show we went to was Cirque de la Mer which premiered at SeaWorld San Diego in 2001. The show features amphibians which combine characteristics of humans and sea creatures that demonstrate their super-human abilities through exhilarating acrobatic feats. The show has changed over the years and the pictures are what we experienced.
More of the performers.
At times there was a lot going on at the same time.
For those looking for thrills SeaWorld has rides and roller coasters. We went on a couple of the exciting ones and managed to get a bit wet. I did not take any pictures so from Wikimedia Commons this is Journey to Atlantis which was one of the ones that was at SeaWorld San Diego when we visited.
During our time at SeaWorld San Diego we had fun watching the shows and riding the rides and managed to learn a few things along the way. More pictures can be found in the SeaWorld San Diego gallery.
More Information
SeaWorld San Diego Wikipedia article
