SoCal Trip: SeaWorld San Diego

14 March 1985

There’s so much to see and do in San Diego, but our time was limited and we had to make a choice.  After much debate, we spent the last day of our vacation at SeaWorld.

The genesis of SeaWorld was nothing like what it turned out to be.  It started out as an idea for building an underwater restaurant and marine life show.  Before long, however, the four men who had come up with the idea realized it wasn’t feasible to move ahead with their plans.  Instead, they decided to build a theme park.  And so SeaWorld San Diego was born.  With over 400,000 visitors in the first year after it opened its doors in 1964, the park proved to be a big success.  So much so that immediate plans were made to open additional locations around the US.  (Click the map for a larger, interactive version on the SeaWorld website.)

We had a beautiful day to enjoy all that the park had to offer, including shows that, in later years, would be deemed “politically incorrect.”  On the one hand, I don’t like the idea of training captive animals to perform for audiences.  But if just one or two kids out of the many who see each performance come away with an appreciation for the need to conserve these animals, isn’t that a benefit to the overall marine ecology?  After all, not everyone has the wherewithal to see these animals in their natural habitat.  Something to think about.

Welcome to SeaWorld!

That's my friend Sir Winston Walrus on the right.

Dolphin Discovery

Caribbean flamingos are the most colorful of the six flamingo species.

Flamingos get their color from the algae and crustaceans they filter-feed.

Feeding time at the whale petting pool.

ARCO Penguin Exhibit

The Blue Penguin (aka Fairy Penguin) is the smallest species of penguin.

The Blue Penguin is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand.

In 2007, we had the privilege of seeing King Penguins, the second largest of the species,
in the wild in the Falklands and on South Georgia Island.

When we took this picture of a picture at the exhibit, we had no idea we would
be privileged to see rafting penguins in Antarctica someday.

Shamu, the Killer Whale, is the most popular attraction at SeaWorld.

The Orca (aka Killer Whale) is a toothed whale that is a very fast swimmer and
an efficient predator that eats fish, squid, and marine mammals.

In 2010, we saw our first breaching Orca displaying this behavior  in the wild in Alaska.

Photo Op with Shamu, the SeaWorld mascot.