Whale Watching - Monterey Bay - 24th October 2007

Place: Monterey Bay, USA
Date: 24th October 2007
Trip length: 3 hours
Who was on trip: Me, Mum, Dave
Wildlife seen: Californian Sea Lions, Humpback Whales, Seabirds

Wowie. Went Whale Watching. Saw 2 Humbacks =D. It was a 3 hour trip. About 1 hour was spent searching for them, 1 hour tracking and 1 hour going back.
It was really cool. Yeah we followed them. They'd come up to the surface, dive for about 4 mins, come up and it was repeated.
One time, they did this like lunge out of the water. Real cool. I guess they were feeding.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562811370ooKmkk

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - 21st October 2007

Went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo - Shouka!
Went on most of the rollar coasters, saw the Shouka show - and I got splashed by her lool. I went on an elephant ride! And I fed some seals =]. Goood day.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562796108SrgBiy

SeaWorld California - 19th October 2007

Today we went to SeaWooorld. Well, I was kinda unimpressed :/. I was expecting it to be bigger.
When we got there, I headed straight for the orcas. In the Dine With Shamu pool was Orkid and Nakai. They were doing a Dine, so I didn't bother trying to get an interaction. I then went to the skywalk. Sumar was practising a slide and squirt. Ulises was alone in a back pool, and Corky, Kasatka and Kalia were together in the other.
The dolphin show was starting in 15 minutes, so after the orcas we went there. That show has not changed since the first time I went there, and that was 9 years ago haha! The kid tried to jump in which was actually pretty funny. It was about time someone tried to :P.
After the show we headed to the Penguin Exhibit and the Wild Arctic. Just did the walk through. Polar bears, belugas + walruses. All good.
The Atlantic ride was shut, but I went over there to see the Commersons. Those guys are so cute and diddie x3.
I got out my pink dolphin stuffie and waved it about the glass. They came over and looked at it - before, they were just lapping. It was cool, one guy went upside down to look at it =]. They then went into the other pool, and it was about then I decided to head back to the orcas, because of our DWS. Had to be there 30 mins prior.
Ulises was in close up. Gosh that guy is so big! Real bulky. I didnt bother trying to get an interaction.
Soo we were let into the DWS area. We had a great seat, right by the pool =]. So yeah, obviously we had Ulises for our Dine. The trainer spoke about each of the orcas, how to become a trainer and gave Ulises signals. He did a belly breach, side breach, a froggie, slide out and a few other things.
At about 2pm, I left DWS, to go take my place in the stadium. I swopped places about 4 times hehe. Finally fot a place infront of the slide out.
So the show - effects and background: great. Show itself: poor. I was expecting way more. It wasn't very upbeat or exciting - I'm used to the shows of MLF i guess!
Anway, the guys in the show were Nakai, Corky, Orkid and Sumar. After the show I went to Rocky Point Preserve. I didn't get any food, but I watied and touched a few dolphins =]. One kept butting its head a bit =S.
After the dolphins i went back to the orcas. Nakai was in the show pool, Kalia and Orkid in the med pool, Corky and Kasatka were in a back pool, and Sumar and Ulises were in the other back pool. Sumar and Ulises then got moved into Shamu close up.
They were doing a dine, so I waited til they were done. I got my dolphin stuffie out, but they took no notice. Very gutted about that. I was even standing next to some woman who had clealy been quite a few times, because she knew their names, and she was saying how weird it was that Sumar wasn't coming over.
So I gave up, and went to the stadium for the 4:30pm show. I was pretty much the same, except I noticed the Breakspin this time, and another behavious. In the show was Nakai, Corky, Kasatka, Kalia came in with Kasatka but didnt do anything, and I can't remember if Orkid was there or not :/.
Soo after the show we went and saw the Sea otters, and then went back to the Hotel.
Still very unimpressed though. No intereactions! Atleast I got one with the commies though.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562660210rQHngL

Dolphin Watching - Madeira - 19th August 2007

Place: Madeira
Date: 19th August 2007
Boat type: Dinghy boat
Who was on trip: Me, Mum
Wildlife seen: Bottlenose Dolphins, Sperm Whales, Seabirds, a strange fish

Woop yeah. So me and mum did the dolphin watch =]
We arrived at the meeting point, which was the shop. There was roughly 22 other people in there, all on the same trip as us. We were lead into a cinema like room, where we had a presentation about cetaceans. All the stuff I knew really =P
We were then lead into the Marina, and the group was split up, into groups of 12, to go on 2 dinghy-like boats. On the boats we had to wear orange life jackets.
So the 2 boats set off. The ride was pretty cool. Not too rough, and the waves were fun to ride.
It felt like ages, we were out at sea, seeing nothing but..sea. Saw the occasional sea bird.
The first dolphins I sighted were jumping out the water right alongside the other boat =o. It was not decided were Atlantic Spotted Dolphins or Bottlenose. I personally thought they were Bottlenose.
We saw alot of dolphins. I mean alot. The school was huge. They were all porpoising in and out of the water.
The company offered the chance to swim with the dolphins, which we paid for. It was a limit of 2 people a time. So me and a German woman were up to do it first. We stripped to our bikini's, shoved a mask and snorkel on, and sat on the boats side. Everytime we were given the signal to go in, we'd lose the dolphins. Has, one time we were moving off, and the German woman fell in! I almost fell backwards lol. So the boat was stopped to le ther back on lol. She was ok.
We found some dolphins again, and we got in, but we were only in the water for about a minute. The dolphins had disappeared, and neither of us got to see them underwater =(.
The dolphins clearly didnt want to come near us, which is why every time we were near they dived, so the dolphin swim was called off. Gutted =[. It was possible the group had calves. The group was huge though. There mustve been about 30! It was really amazing to see. Some were only like a few meters to my lift. Really cool. So we left the dolphins, and went in search of some Sperm Whales that had been sighted.
Our first sighting of the Sperm Whales, were of their blow, really far in the distance, which was then followed by their flukes. From where we were, they only lliked like pygmy ones lol.
We got a bit closer, and saw about 3. Then they dived down, and we saw their flukes go up =].
We rode about in the sea for ages, and we finally caught sight of them again. About 4 this time. We slowly approached. The other boat was closer to the whales which sucked for us lol. The whales were generally swimming at the surface, and we saw their blow/spout alot. When we got our closest yet, the whales dived. So we got to see their tails go up again =D. Superb, like the french said lol. It was very amazing. So when the final whale dived down, we headed back to the Marina. We caught some really cool waves =P.
Yeh so great trip. Gutted about the dolphin swim, but I did see them, and alot of them which was gute. And the Sperm Whales were a real bonus!

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562810729zTBLJk
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voJLuNnLnxY

Swimming with Dolphins - ZooMarine - 3rd September 2006

Place: Zoomarine
Date: 3rd September 2006
Species: Bottlenose Dolphin
Main Cetacean Name: Hamlet
Other Cetacean Name: Hugo
Trainer: Bruno
Time in pool: 35-40 minutes

At 11:15am, at the meeting point, 2 trainers came out and called out our names. Then one of the trainers, Micael, led us down to the dolphin lagoon. Micael was our guide. There was a group of 11 of us, and we watched the dolphins in the left pool, until the 12th person came.
Lol, in the pool, the dolphins were having sex, hehe. There were 3 in the pool; Dino, Hugo and I forgot the others name – oops! Micael talked to us about some of the dolphins, and answered our questions. We saw the dolphins get separated into different pools and then we went into the Hut.
In the hut, Micael told us about dolphins, and we watched the slideshow. Micael was also cracking jokes. It was very cheesy, but very funny.
We then went into the changing rooms, and were given a wet-suit jacket thingy, and flip flops and a towel, as gifts.
Once we were changed, we were taken to the right dolphin pool.
In the pool there were 2 dolphins: Hamlet and Hugo, and 2 trainers: Bruno and Tiago. Lol, Hamlet and Hugo were having sex in the pool, hehe.
We then got in the pool and were split into 2 groups of 6. I went to Hamlet and Bruno. Once I was in the pool, I couldn’t stop smiling.
We greeted Hamlet and were stroking and petting him. Hamlet is an 11 year old male, not born in Zoomarine.
After the greeting of Hamlet, we each had our photos taken with him. I pet and kissed Hamlet a lot, and after my turn was up, I got to kiss Hamlet on the end of the beak.
We then got to pet Hamlet some more and gave him signals, like splashing, waving and rising up. We then got to splash Hamlet, but he splashed us more, hehe.
We were then combined with the other group, so Hamlet and Hugo could give us all a foot push – with or without a board.
The other group went first, whilst we waited in the water. Micael all gave us goggles, and he said we could watch the dolphins underwater. I used the goggles to watch the dolphins underwater, but no one else did. When I had my head underwater, I could also hear the dolphin’s echo-locating. It was very cool.
It was then out turn for the foot push. I went 2nd and did it without the board. I went into the pool, and laid down in the water, with my hands by my side. Hugo and Hamlet then swam behind me, placed their beaks on my feet and pushed me to the other side of the pool. OMG, it was so great! I really loved it.
We then went back into our groups and pet Hamlet some more. We then took it in turns to do the waltz (?) with Hamlet. I swam into the middle of the pool, held my right arm out, my hand in a cup, and Hamlet swam up to me and put his beak in my hand. He spun me round and round in the water, and he did it for quite a while, lol. It was very cool.
At the end, our groups combined, and we kissed our dolphins on the beaks and then waved them away.

Loro Parque - 17th April 2006

Me, mum and Dave got to Loro Parque at about 11.30am. We tried to book a Discovery Tour but it was all booked up, so I was then pissed.
We walked past the Gorillas and then went into Planet Penguin. I love the slide at the bottom that goes into the toy shop :P.
We then had a quick look at the Chimpaneezs and then had lunch whilst the 12pm Sea Lion show was going on.
After lunch we went into the dolphin stadium and watched the orcas. All 4 of them were playing with a blue plastic float. It was cool to watch. Whilst the 1pm dolphin show was going on, I watched the orcas. Kohana was playing with the float, but then she got it stick on the pools side, bless her. Skyla and Tekoa helped her to get it off the side. They kept nosing at the float which then made it harder for them to get it back into the water. They were trying for a good 4 minutes, and eventually they suceeded.
The float got stuck 2 more times. The firs time the trainer pushed it off for them, and the second time Kohana threw her body onto the float tipping it off.
After the dolphin show, me and mum went on the lil orca coaster in Kinderland lol! It went around 6 times.
We then went into this indoor building which would then lead to the Orca Ocean, but it was blocked off. In the building there was the crapy orca statue, and on the wall I saw a picture of 2 orcas and I was like "OMG its Kiska and Athena!".
Me, mum and Dave then walked about the park for a while looking at the parrots, aligators, jaguars and other animals. We went into the aquarium and Shark Tunnel which was closed last time we went. There were about 5 different shark species.
At 2:40pm i headed back to the dolphin stadium, and once again spent the time watching the orcas. They didn't have their float this time, but were basically relaxing. They got a hose down and every now and then did a few splashes. Once the show was over I said my goodbyes to the orcas and left the park at 4:30pm.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562654532NMHolC

Dolphin Watching - Tenerife - 14th April 2006

Place: Puerto Colon?, Tenerife
Date: 14th April 2006
Boat name: Royal Delfin
Boat type: Catamaran?
How many people it carries: -
Company name: -
Trip length: 4 hours 30 minutes
Successful or Unsucessful: Successful
Who was on trip: Me, Mum, Dave
Wildlife seen: Bottlenose Dolphins, Short-Finned Pilot Whales, Seabirds

The coach picked us up at about 11.45am and arrived at Puerto Colon at about 2pm. We boarded our Catamaran, called the Royal Delfin, at 2:30pm. There was no room on the top deck, so I went down stairs in the indoors bit.
Gosh the journey was awful. I suffer from motion sickness so it wasn't in the slightest bit nice. Our first dolphin sighting was a lone bottlenose dolphin. It was bow riding at the front of our boat which was very cool. It didn't stay around long, and then the boar went out in seach of more dolphins.
We came across about 5. Some were bow riding and leaping. There was also a calf! They disappeared after about 7 minutes and the boat searched for more. We then came across quite a lot of dolphins, I have no idea how many, and they were frolicking about. It was very good to watch. Once again they disappeared and the boat didn't find anymore. I felt very ill so laid down and had a little sleep. After food was served up, which I rejected, the boat set off back, and on the way we saw a few dolphins and 2 Pilot Whales, both alone. The Pilots kept disappearing but occasionally did a few small breaches. They didn't stay long and we then set off back to Puerto Colon. I was glad to back on land.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562810988XTeBin

Loro Parque - 12th April 2006

Woo Loro Parque! It was so cool. But gah, the Orca Ocean was still closed :(.
We got to Loro Parque at 12:15pm. At the entrance, mum bought my a backstage ticket, but I never went because it was gunna be about 1.45 hours on my own, but I don't mind because all 3 of us are gunna do it on Monday.
We started off at the Parrots and walked through the aquarium and sea lions until we got to the dolphins. The dolphin show started at 1.30pm, but whilst we waited, we climbed to the top of the dolphin stadium, looked over the edge and saw the orcas!
Wow. It's so weird seeing Keto, Tekoa, Kohana and Skyla, I really can't tell you how weird it was. Tekoa wasn't around much, but Keto, Kohana and Skyla were in the bigger of the back pools, atleast I think its bigger.
I then watched the dolphin show. It was okay, but y'know, the normal dolphin show stuff. I then checked out the orcas again until the guards kicked us out.
We had lunch and then saw the chimpaneezs and marmosets. Then I saw the penguins. The penguin exhibit is really cool. Apparently it has won 4 gold stars. And there was real ice on the walls as you walked through. I was spazzing about that lol.
We then went to the gorillas, and there was one male running past the glass and throwing leaves and stones at it, as if he wanted to challenge us.
Me, mum and Dave then watched the 3.45pm Sea Lion show. It was quite good. After the sea lion show we walked back to the Dolphin stadium, but had to wait ages until we were ket in. I ran to the top of the dolphin stadium, and watched the orcas. U even missed the dolphin show to watch the guys. They were a lot more interesting whilst the show was going on. I saw them being hosed down and fed. I got some great shots.
Before the dolphin show, though, Kohana and Tekoa weren't really about, Keto was logging and Skyla was chewing on the wall lol. She's a cutie. After the show had finished we left the park at about 6.15pm.
It was a cool day. But wow, I was so close to the orcas when I saw them being fed. It was great. Well I wasn't sooo close, but I was close as possible.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562651451OJuiJB

Dolphin Encounter - Marineland France - 25th October 2005

Place: Marineland Antibes
Date: 25th October 2005
Species: Bottlenose Dolphin
Main Cetacean Name: Silver
Other Cetacean Name: Fenix and ?
Trainer: -
Time in pool: -

At 12:15pm, I had a dolphin encounter booked, so headed to the new dolphin lagoon. I was the only English speaking person, which wasn't cool. We watched a short film about dolphins, then put on our waders and went to the pool. There were around 30 of us, and there were 3 dolphins: Silver, Fenix and another (forgot its name). We touched Silver's rostrum and beak, and the trainers spoke about the dolphins, luckily one trainer knew English and translated for me, and we gave the dolphins some hand signals. We touched Silver one last time, and then it was over at 1.40pm.

Marineland France - 25th October 2005

I got to the park entrance at about 10.10am, but the que was huge huge, so I got into the park about 10.50am. Me and my parents headed to the orcas and Kim, Sharkan, Inouk and Wiki were in the show pool.

We watched the 11.30am orca show which lasted til 12.00pm. After the show Freya and Valentin were in the show pool. At 12:15pm, I had a dolphin encounter booked, so headed to the new dolphin lagoon. I was the only English speaking person, which wasn't cool. We watched a short film about dolphins, then put on our waders and went to the pool. There were around 30 of us, and there were 3 dolphins: Silver, Pheonix and another (forgot its name). We touched Silver's rostrum and beak, and the trainers spoke about the dolphins, luckily one trainer knew English and translated for me, and we gave the dolphins some hand signals. We touched Silver one last time, and then it was over at 1.40pm.

I had lunch and then left my parents, and walked about the park. I went to go and see the dolphins in the new lagoon, but unfortunatly they were in the smaller pool, without the glass. I then went and watched Inouk, Wiki and Sharkan in the back pool and looked at the penguins, seals and sea lions.

At about 3.00pm I went back to the orcas. Valentin and Freya were still in the show pool. I watched the orca and pirate show at 4.00pm. I liked it. But I noticed that the trainers didnt do any water work, or the orca kiss, like they did last year. After the show I watched the sea lions by the dolphin lagoon, and then watched the orcas. Sharkan, Inouk and Wiki were in the show pool. But they were really un-interactive. They were just laying by the trainers cove doing very little. Only later did they start doing come laps. I didnt exactly get any interactions, but Wiki came up to the glass and watched my orca stuffie, and followed it along the glass.

At 7.15pm I watched the orca night show, which was really cool, and then my and my parents left the park.

Pics here: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562639660ZUtBOm