$ea World, San Diego- Dolphin Exhibits Part 1

Sea World, San Diego. 
As I was looking through my posts, I realized that I never posted about the dolphin habitats I experienced while at Sea World, San Diego (Sept., 2010). If you want to see more about the Orca exhibits, please refer to later posts- complete with pictures.
First, I want to go over the exhibit that was BEHIND the dolphin stage area. I want to make it clear that I boycott all dolphin/whale shows- so, I in this particular park, I was not able to see the size of the tank the dolphins were housed in during the show. However, I am going to show you tanks that dolphins were in WHILE a show was going on. I was saddened at how small these tanks were- and these guys seemed to swim around and around and around. Well, what more could they do.

(PS- You can CLICK on a picture if you want to see it bigger on your computer) 

In this pic, you can see a dolphin swimming towards me. It's hard to tell from the shadows, but I counted about 3 dolphins in this pool, and there didn't seem to be an exit or entrance to the other pools you see in the pic. The all seemed to be gated off. It was only about 9:45 am, and it was getting HOT- I wonder what they do for shade for these guys. I mean, I understand they are in water- but that has to be a concern. Also, the pools are VERY close to the public, meaning, that I could see ANYTHING getting thrown in there. Just some concerns I had.

 Here, you can actually see 3 dolphins. 1 closest to the front, 1 with the dorsal fin out of the water, and there is actually one by the gate in the background. I watched these guys for a good half hour.

 In this one, this gives you a good example of how close you can get to them. I was using only a point and shoot digital cam- the zoom on it was really not of good quality. There is a fence around the pools, but it was one of those wooden type, with the 3 slots that even a small child could easily fit through. Scary!

 Here is the backdrop to the show- and you can see the crowd watching the show as well. If you look close, the tank is holding...I believe it was 4 dolphins. I see 1 on the right and left, and I believe there are 2 in the back playing by the gate.

 Better view of the backdrop to the show, some other dolphin pools, and the crowd that the show gathered. That stadium sure does look full. Yuck.

 In this pic- there are 4 dolphins for SURE in this tank. One on the left, one straight back by the rocks, one by the gate, and one mid-right (kinda hard to see). It just seemed like a lot of dolphins to be in one tank while the show was going on- When you see the space when I zoom out with my camera, I think it shows how much smaller it actually was. And, to have 4 dolphins in it- just seemed cramped.

For example, here's a good picture of the same tank- zoomed out- with the same 4 dolphins I have been showing you. The tank APPEARED to be closed off, gated closed to any other tanks. And, like I said- this was early a.m. hours, where it was getting hot. There was not a shaded area for these dolphins if they would be in this tank in the p.m. hours- and the access to them by the public was VERY easy. I would hate for some foreign object to get tossed in their tank- (food, etc).

Again, this blog is for me to show you what I am seeing at the parks- I am not claiming to be an expert, but I am giving you my opinion. In my opinion, overall, these animals should not be in captivity, so their homes in captivity are always going to be less adequate than their natural dwellings. I do not feel that they should be housed in "theme parks".

So, that's the condition of the tanks behind the dolphin stage that I saw. In the next post, I'm will post the pics from the "Dolphin Discovery/Encounter" area.


Until Next Time......