22-23 May 08: A trip to Sea World San Antonio with the Argyle 5th Grade class.
We had a behind the scene tour - the tanks used to hold and train the awesome sea creatures here at Sea World.
A Killer Whale...
...which is actually a member of the dolphin family.
Hit the trail, after a bio break.
A Blue Gray Dolphin. He might look half asleep, but...
...these dolphins thrive on attention, and...
...if they see a crowd gathering and sense the energy, they'll put on a show for you.
It would have been great to step over the blue line and touch these dolphins, but we were careful to respect the rules at Sea World.
A mom and baby Mantee.
Lots of walking in the sun. Drink lots of fluids, and stay cool by positioning yourself near the end of the Atlantis ride.
Doing this will result in a complete drenching when the huge cart carrying six people comes down the slide,
spraying hundreds of gallons of water on the adjacent deck.
Regrouping the group.
Bed time, sleeping on the floor in the same building as the Penguins. You get used to the smell in short order, both animal and human.
In the morning, after walking a couple of miles, we were able to visit the Dolphins again and pet Sting Rays.
I would have been content to remain with the Dolphins the entire trip
One final stop and we are now on our own.
Here is a skit involving Sea Lions.
An enormous Mantee joined the fun.
Some California Sea Lions are aggressive feeders.
Others take a more relaxed approach.
This parrot is walking across my head and picking at my hair. I do not know why one sleeve is pulled up while the other isn't.
Time for the Dolphin show. They can jump up to 20 feet.
They can do forward and reverse flips; an amazing thing to see.
These Dolphins can jump in formation.
Shamu!
Three Shamus!
A signature Shamu attraction is to hit the crowd with water. All three line up and slap the water with their tails, sending unmeasurable quantities of 35 deg salt water into rows 1-12. The sights and sounds at Sea World provide additional evidence and validation
of the Creator's hand upon the Creation. Truly the heavens and the earth declare the glory of God.
I am looking forward to the next trip to Sea World.