The day after going to Busch Gardens we went to SeaWorld. I know it's very controversial & there will be people who will be against me going with protests everyday at the main entrance. (We didn't see them as we don't go in that way going by I-Ride). I think everyone knows that these poor whales, dolphins, sharks, fish & other animals get kept in what they're used to as bath tubs but I didn't realise how bad it actually is until I went.
The worst is the dolphin nursery they have which has the tiniest pool where baby dolphins live for 18months with their mum's. There's so many dolphins in such a small space. I was asking the women who works there about it & she was really defensive when I was asking her about it saying that the pool looks bigger & deeper than what we see when there is no way they can justify it. I didn't take any photos I only got videos of the pool of the poor dolphins.
The only show we watch was Shamu with the orcas. It was a lot shorter & not as good as I remember it being from when I was little but when we got back we watched Blackfish which is about SeaWorld how one of the orcas Tilicum has killed a number of trainers but he's still used in the shows but now they don't have the trainers in the water in case. Which is probably why the shows are shorter & aren't as good cos they can't get in. They used to stand on them, ride them, & do lots more tricks where as now what they do is still amazing but not the same.
The film has been out for a couple of years now but if you go on SeaWorld's twitter you'll see a lot of people have been tweeting to them about it & they've been posting videos back in reply which don't explain anything at all. They say what is shown in the film isn't true when they can't really deny what is in the film which is really shocking to see how they train them by putting ones that aren't training with ones that have so that they fight to make sure they listen & then they get fed. It would have made sense to watch the film before but I did want to see for myself how bad it was & I definitely won't be going again.
It's amazing how they can get these giant orcas to do these tricks but when you find out how they train them it's not so. I'm surprised how SeaWorld is still open & has signs all over the park saying it's celebrating it's 50th year, but with the amount of money & people that go every day they're obviously going to be still going. It's only when people stop going is when it'll be shut down. But I think with how dangerous it is since they are called killer whales they should really stop before even more people get killed & they're basically killing these whales by having them in this horrible environment.
They also have penguins, on this weird crap ride we went on but at the end you see them & it's freezing where it is, as they live in icy conditions. None of us had our phone on us at the time, our bags were in the locker as we just came off the rides.
It does make me angry & sad how they use these fish to entertain us but they happen to have the best roller coaster ever there called Manta. If you've been to Alton Towers it's just like Air. You sit in, get locked in then it tilts you on your front as if you're superman. It's meant to be a like a stingray you just glide through the air & get twisted on your back, I can't describe how much I love it! The first time me, Tracy & Gary went on we went on the front & it was just the best! I hate that the ride is here & not somewhere else because I'd want to go to SeaWorld to just be able to go on it! When we went again with Laura & Ste we went on the back & it wasn't as good & if you hate roller coasters don't go at the back it's the worst place you can be. There's also another roller coaster called Kraken which is has a lot of loops! There's also a long flume which I didn't go on.
You can touch & buy food to feed the stingrays which is cruel as they're being over fed with the amount of food people buy they don't even it. The birds come flying in & eat it for them. Over feeding is just as bad as under feeding to starving them.
Flamingo yoga!
The second time we went, we went to see the dolphin show but then a thunderstorm came. It was so scary, the thunder was so loud it sounded like a gun shot! We were sitting on metal seats under a metal roof so not the safest place to be but I'm definitely not scared of thunder or lightning no more after sitting through that! We never did get to see the dolphin show.
With the controversy of SeaWorld the hightlight was definitely seeing Tom Daley the first time we went which happened to be the day after we seen him Busch Gardens. It was so weird. Me, Tracy & Gary were waiting for front row for Manta then Gary says there's Tom Daley strapped into the front on the other side as there's two trains. Tracy put her thumbs up to him then I waved. He did a nervous wave back to us must've been like it's them weird Chinese girls again after we were taking loads of photos of him the day before.
We ended up going on when he got off, & as we were coming back in I seen he was coming in as well so made Tracy & Gary wait so I could get a photo. Tracy was like no I'm too embarrassed but of all places we see him, we see him 2 days on the run in AMERICA of course I have to get a picture!! I don't think he seemed to pleased but he got a picture with us anyway. I was hoping that he could have been staying at the hotel Gary was getting married in (The wedding was the day after this) but he tweeted he was back at home!
Who does that girl think she is photobombing us!
He had a camera strapped to his chest while he was on the ride, not sure if he's filming another travel documentary? He didn't have a film crew with him or his best friend Sophie so maybe not.
Tomorrow will be the penultimate post with Discovery Cove.
Julie
XxX
Some of the photos were
taken on my Nikon 1 J2 camera while others were taken from my Nexus 4 phone
& some from my cousin's iPhone 5 which is why the picture quality
isn't consistent throughout this post.
