7th April 2023
I travelled
to San Diego early this morning and headed to SeaWorld. I arrived and went
straight to the orcas as the 12pm show was about to start. In the show was
Orkid, Keet and Ulises. I must say, they have improved the educational content
of the shows by tenfold! Much better than before. I then hung around the orcas
pools. I went to the underwater viewing area where Corky, Ikaika and Shouka
were. Ike and Shouka weren’t doing much, but Corky was doing upside down laps in
front of the glass. They were then being used for the 1pm Dine With Shamu
experience so they were active then. I went to watch the show pool, and Kalia
and Makani were in there for the paid orca experience. Makani is so big now,
crazy! He was just a bub when I saw him last. I went up onto the pre-show skywalk
viewing platform and saw Keet, Ulises and Orkid from above. Then I went to
watch the second show where Shouka, Kalia, Makani, Orkid, Keet and Ulises were
all used at different times.
I then
wondered around the rest of the park and saw the dolphins, seals, sea lions,
penguins, belugas, walruses and otters.
Later, I
went back to the underwater viewing area and Keet, Makani and Orkid were in
there. Keet and Makani were kinda swimming around in mother and calf position,
so people thought they were lol. Orkid was being antisocial and just hanging at
the bottom of the pool.. Yah, so it was then my Dine With Shamu dinner. I got a
seat at the glass, on Orkid’s side. She’s a pretty girl. I ate as much as I
could as the buffet lol. But yeah, it was lovely seeing the whales so close. I
stayed the whole time. Then I headed over to watch the final show where they
used Shouka, Kalia, Ulises and finally saw Corky and Ikaika in the show, yaaay!
Apparently Ikaika is the largest male – that’s crazy! I guess that’s the
Tilikum genes! I then left the park and headed back to the hostel.
8th April 2023
I arrived at
the park and made it for the 12pm show and sat in the front row in front of the
slide out. I got a slight spray, not a soaking haha. In the show were Corky,
Ikaika and Makani, then briefly at the end Kalia and Ulises. I then went for
the Killer Whale Close Up experience. Wow, what a rip off, honestly. We got
taken into the show pool stadium, where Kalian and Ulises were. We watched the
trainers interact with them, whilst a trainer quietly spoke about them. Then us
guests were split between each orca for photos. I had Ulises. He’s a cutey. But
yeah, the whole experience was probably 20 mins or less, and cost $99, madness!
I would have at least liked a photo with Kalia as well! I checked out the parts
of the park I missed yesterday, such as the turtles and rays. Then hung around
the Dine with Shamu pool, where Orkid, Shouka and Keet were. Orkid was laying
upside down in the pool again. Later she was playing with the gate which seemed
dangerous, and Makani entered the pool and was hanging around the gate too. I
then got tired of the amount of people at the park and left pretty early.
