San Diego is a popular vacation spot, but for us its a "backyard". Mostly, we are enjoying the beach, bay, biking.....but there are a couple of things we budgeted to do while here. A visit to Seaworld ($$$$) was one of them. It was a pleasure to just have to drive 10 minute to get there. Actually, we could have biked there!
Our first stop was to the area with the Arctic Wild....penguins and polar bears. Tom and I both love nature, and these are some mammals we will never get to see in their natural environment. The penguin house had a "people mover" to take you through the exhibit, but since it wasn't crowded, we kept walking backwards so we could stay longer. Fascinating to watch!
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| Penguins...my favorite |
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| taking a swim outside |
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| did you see the Penguin movie? |
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| great exhibit |
Because it was early in the morning, we were lucky to see the polar bears active. One was just finishing up swimming when we got there. They both looked so clean and cuddly. Hahah.
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| hey big guy! |
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| enjoying an early morning swim? |
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| don't they look so cuddly? |
On to the whales....we spent some time watching the playful Beluga whales, and trying to get the song "Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea" out of our heads. Hahahah.
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| Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea......lalalala |
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| tuna? |
Seaworld in known for their killer whales (Shamu). They've also been making headline news regarding the Orcas. I just read today that Seaworld has agreed to end the killer whale program (not breeding the Orcas anymore). The whales will not be getting "set free", since they most likely wouldn't survive in the wild. The company will be re-focusing over the next few years.
I can tell you that the "show" was educational. We learned the research Seaworld does regarding the birthing and care of the young Orcas, something that is extremely difficult to do in nature, complements the research done on these whales in their natural setting. Anyway, we enjoyed seeing the orcas up close. WOW they are big!
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| viewing the orcas above and below the water.... |
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| these Orcas are huge |
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| yes I'm having fun here |
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| playing in the pool |
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| Flipper? Is that you? |
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| the dolphin pool |
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| waiting for the Shamu Show |
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| these guys are HUGE |
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| six of the nine orcas here |
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| that's a job!! |
Did I mention that we had a beautiful day to enjoy the park? Being that the park is right on Mission Bay, we had a nice cool breeze the whole time we were there. The crowds were not too bad either. We realized "spring break" would be in full force during the next couple of weeks, so we tried to plan our day trip accordingly.
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| a quiet area of the park! where is everybody? |
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| always liked the flamingos |
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| there are a lot of them here |
The seals were fun to watch too...what characters they are! Some of the visitors were feeding them, and the seals knew just how to get the attention of the visitors with food! The egrets in the area were on to it too, and some of them seemed pretty aggressive. Demonstrates part of the problem when humans start feeding wildlife!
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| that sea lion turns his head all the way around like an owl |
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| enjoying watching the seals...so playful |
Sharks! Loved that exhibit too....walking under the tank on the "people mover". This one was a bit more crowded so we couldn't walk backwards to enjoy it a little longer. Aquariums have come a very long way since I was a kid!
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| shark! |
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| love this shark tank! |
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| too many people to move backwards here Susie! |
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| enjoying the day! |
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| more than just turtles in this tank! |
We had fun checking out the outdoor exhibits, and took our time just watching the sealife in the various pools....stingrays, dolphins, sharks.....all in clean pools. Every once in a while, we'd become aware that there were rides in the park too! Hahahha. Tom always went on the thrilling rides with our kids when they were young. BUT, when our kids starting riding the crazy rollercoasters like the blue one here, Tom joined me on the bench to watch instead of partake. Hahhaha. We still laugh all these years later at the memory of that!
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| huge stingrays |
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| sure you don't want to ride the coaster Tom? I'll wait for you on the bench! |
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| just playing in the pool...no trainer around |
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| beautiful |
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| good underwater views |
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| giant dolphin pool |
Did I mention that we bought the added "food plan"? When we bought our tickets online, we got the special.For $20 more, we could eat "for free" using the wristband. It pretty much pays for itself since the food and drinks are ridiculously expensive here. (And so is the parking, I might add....$16)!!! The limit for the food add-on was a meal/drink every hour. Yikes! So, we did eat way more than we would have. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. (I hate myself). Though I did manage a healthy lunch.
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| flamingo parade? |
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| would not have ordinarily eaten this giant cookie here if not for the food plan and missing the one show we really wanted to see! |
We planned our day around the show schedules. Wouldn't ya know, my watch battery died around 2:00 and I had the wrong time, so we missed the one show we really wanted to see (One Ocean), and found we had an extra hour or so until the final show of the day. We spent that time backtracking to the Arctic area, and we lucked out. It was time to feed the Belugas. (Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea...lalalalal). I'm still singing that song. Arg!
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| snack time for the Belugas (Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea.....see what I mean...the song sticks with you!) |
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| sleepy time |
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| glad we saw the polar bears in the morning! though aren't they cute when they are sleeping? |
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| hahahahha....that's what I like to do! |
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| an underwater view |
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| sea lion show |
Before heading out from a nice day at Seaworld, we had an early dinner so no cooking for me when we got back home!! Yippee!!
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| burgers for dinner |
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| no cooking tonight :) |
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