San Diego Road Trip - Day Eight

So I know it's super commercialized and everything has a logo, but I still think SeaWorld is cool. It's the "I always wanted to be a marine biologist" in me that makes this so much fun. The crowds are not my favorite, but the exhibits and especially Shamu are still fantastic. So, now I present too many pictures of an orca and too many pictures of dolphins (the cute kind you can feed, not the killer-take-over-the-world kind from The Simpsons).

Since we knew it would get busy, we started at the dolphin section, where I waited in line while the boys checked out some other exhibits. These guys were entertaining while we waited.



The dolphins got ready for their visitors as well.



When they opened, we got two trays of fish so both boys could have the chance to drop some fish in the sharp tooth filled jaws of the friendly dolphins. You're instructed to pet their noses and drop fish into their mouths.









Since the feeding of the dolphins is an all day occurrence, the local winged residents have figured out it's a good place for a meal. Ben had to fight this guy for a fish. Although he was aggressive, Ben won out, as did the dolphin.





The experience of petting a dolphin is one we all enjoyed.







After this, we headed to another favorite part - the ray exhibit. Here, too, you can get up close with rays and pet them gently as they swim circles around their enclosure. Ben enjoyed this a little more than Ry.







The rays are really graceful as they glide around. It's quite beautiful.







This part of the park is also home to the frightening moray eel. They are just plain creepy.



From here, we waited in line to see the Shamu show. It was hot and crowded and Ry really was wondering why we weren't exploring other parts of the park. Ben, however, knew what was coming and sat on the edge of his seat as we waited for the show to begin. My apologies, but I had the cool lens, and the subject matter is most impressive.

















Having accomplished our checklist of tasks, we spent the rest of the time exploring the park and the various exhibits. Here's a sampling of what we saw.













We stopped to feed the flamingos, which Ry had been anticipating thanks to Ben's stories about what we'd find on our visit.









Ry was pretty impressed with the Arctic exhibit and props, including the helicopter, boat frame and polar bear caves (complete with scary growls).







Always helpful, Ry pointed out the repeated occurrences of beer vendors. Sadly, as SeaWorld is owned by Anheuser Busch, there's boatloads of undrinkable beer, all duly noted by my youngest.