Day 56 – Whales, Dolphins And Lots Of Fish



Sunday, October 17, 2010
Miles To Date: 
8 209

Our second day in San Diego had us visiting the other obvious site: Sea World. Before we made our way to the theme park we first had breakfast with Lindsey and her friends. We went to a restaurant which claimed to make ‘the best pancakes in the world’. They were definitely the best we have had all trip but its going to be some time before we can confirm whether the claim is true. Very full up, we then headed to the park.

Our first stop was the dolphin pool, where its possible to touch the dolphins as they swim around. The only problem was the dolphins are very cheeky and will only let you touch them if you first let them drench you with a splash from their tail. Neither of us fancied being soaked in mild, overcast weather so we settled on watching and taking photos. When we were done it was time for the killer whale show.

We got great seats in the arena just outside the ‘soak zone’, where you are almost guaranteed to get wet. The current show is called ‘believe’ and it featured four of the park’s whales performing various acrobatics. The whole thing was very impressive, but we noticed none of the trainers got in the water after an incident where one was killed earlier this year. Once it was over we headed to the dolphin arena for our second show of the day. Instead of the usual dolphin-only show, it was instead a variety performance, with dolphins, beluga whales, a number of exotic birds and even human acrobats. While the additional acts were great to see, the dolphins were still the best, with their grand finale potentially being the highlight of the day.

With the two main shows out the way, we spent the rest of the afternoon having a look around the smaller exhibits. These included a tidepool where you could pick up live starfish, a huge penguin enclosure, and various fish tanks with samples from all around the world. We also saw a special Halloween show where a sea lion danced to Thriller with some trainers – very amusing.

After leaving the park we drove back up to Los Angeles. On the way we had dinner again at the Cheesecake Factory, in a nice new development near the city centre. Tomorrow we are going to have a slower day before Universal and Disney later this week.

Photo(s) of the day: Shamu and four of the dolphins!