flying dolphins
Jan. 9th, 2007 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intjonathanI need a few days of sleep. This has been, contrary to the nature of a holiday, a few days rather light on sleep. The lovely weather has me completely convinced it's June, but sadly it will fade tomorrow. Knowing this would happen, we packed the first few days here full of theme parks. Today was Sea World.
I did Marine World Africa USA (tm) many years ago, and this has kind of the same vibe, lots of open space and wandering between outdoor tanks. It's a park that's slow to reveal its cool bits. You have to dig past the horrible piped-in muzak and everything-up-to-11 entertainment. Anheuser-Busch Entertainment - not exactly the NSF - owns and operates the park, so bizarre beer and clydesdale placements abound. Not a word is spoken about where they get their animals, how they're treated, why they're on display, etc. As a conservationist, and a scientist, it was somewhat alarming. 
To say nothing of the Shamu show, which actually made my stomach flip with disgust at the overdone and meaningless "joining two worlds" theme. Not only was the content of the show ridiculous, but there wasn't much actual showmanship. The smaller shows with the dolphins and seals had lots of actual performance by the trainers, with ad-libbing and missed cues. Much more interesting. And so much money! I hope those animals get treated as good as their performance theaters do. Huge rotating video screens, lights and hi-def cameras, waterfalls and enormous pools, etc. etc. etc. This is not a starving-for-grants sea life research facility.
But. That being said, there's lots of touching and splashing and seeing to do. I got to pet dolphins, and shake hands with some sea rays, and watch a guy get spit on by a walrus. We had a lot of fun, but sometimes I felt like it was in spite of the environment. And as mom so accurately posed, "sure, your dreams can come true, but was it Shamu's dream to live in a pool?"
We might go back - we have two-day passes - on Friday and hit the roller coaster and arctic exhibits, but we'll see. Tomorrow we'll be moving to Pacific Palisades for a couple days, then Thursday is Ensenada. I'm looking forward to a change of scenery, bed, and pace.
I did Marine World Africa USA (tm) many years ago, and this has kind of the same vibe, lots of open space and wandering between outdoor tanks. It's a park that's slow to reveal its cool bits. You have to dig past the horrible piped-in muzak and everything-up-to-11 entertainment. Anheuser-Busch Entertainment - not exactly the NSF - owns and operates the park, so bizarre beer and clydesdale placements abound. Not a word is spoken about where they get their animals, how they're treated, why they're on display, etc. As a conservationist, and a scientist, it was somewhat alarming. To say nothing of the Shamu show, which actually made my stomach flip with disgust at the overdone and meaningless "joining two worlds" theme. Not only was the content of the show ridiculous, but there wasn't much actual showmanship. The smaller shows with the dolphins and seals had lots of actual performance by the trainers, with ad-libbing and missed cues. Much more interesting. And so much money! I hope those animals get treated as good as their performance theaters do. Huge rotating video screens, lights and hi-def cameras, waterfalls and enormous pools, etc. etc. etc. This is not a starving-for-grants sea life research facility. But. That being said, there's lots of touching and splashing and seeing to do. I got to pet dolphins, and shake hands with some sea rays, and watch a guy get spit on by a walrus. We had a lot of fun, but sometimes I felt like it was in spite of the environment. And as mom so accurately posed, "sure, your dreams can come true, but was it Shamu's dream to live in a pool?"We might go back - we have two-day passes - on Friday and hit the roller coaster and arctic exhibits, but we'll see. Tomorrow we'll be moving to Pacific Palisades for a couple days, then Thursday is Ensenada. I'm looking forward to a change of scenery, bed, and pace.
