San Diego Seaworld in Holiday Mode

One stop on my trip to the East Coast was to San Diego's Seaworld. Usually the weather there is so nice and warm, but it was just my luck that day was quite chilly and cloudy. However, I think that worked to our favor since I know many sea animals prefer the coldness, so the seals and penguins were quite lively that day!

Graceful flip.

Of course, "Shamu" or orcas or killer whales, was the main show of Sea Sorld, and it only run once a day. It was something that shouldn't be missed, and had the biggest stadium and seating to accommodate its popularity. Before the show began, they played videos about how Sea World gives back to the sea world... sorry I can't come up with a better term haha. Such as rescuing injured sea animals and releasing it back after it's healed. They were really about "One Ocean," which was great and evident throughout the park (recycling, donations, rescuing and releasing animals, and taking in animals to care for). Not only do they care for nature, but they also were really respectful for veterans, asking them to remain standing so we may applaud them for their contribution.

The only complaint I have is THERE IS TOO MANY SHAMU!! Just playing, but I really thought Shamu was only one whale's name? But my real complaint was that the show was quite short, perhaps they don't want to overtire the whales. It was really cute when they twirl in the water. And when they splash the front rows with water :P

The bigger highlight for me however, was the dolphin show. They are such beautiful majestic animal, and there is no aquarium near me that has them. There were about seven of the bottle-nose dolphins, and their performance was full of flips, tail waves and interacting with their trainers. To make it more interesting for younger audience, they had a little story of a girl who dreamed to be with the dolphins in the ocean. Then for a finale, they mixed in real parrots (and pigeons tried to join too... which terrified me, as if I don't get enough of them in NYC) and human parrot dancers who did air aerobics. It was really amazing.

Capturing this moment, I now wonder, does the dolphin feel pain when they fall into the water like so? When humans do belly flops and such it's painful....

Short finned pilot whales make a special performance as well! They were much larger, and I was surprised they can do flips like dolphins as well. Overall, it was a very successful show with a lot of interaction and tricks throughout from different animals. Since it ran the same time as the sea lion show, I had to wait for the next showtime for that.

He reminds me of one of my eccentric friends, who I shouldn't name, haha.

So here is Biff, the sea lion... just kidding, but he's as energetic as they are, maybe more! At first I was confused if he was a trainer or a stage assistant since he was shaking as butt and wiping down everything. Then he did a dance routine, changing outfits with each song change in the closet that clearly says "Keep Out Biff." The setting reminds me of a show I used to watch, Carmen Sandiego. It was supposed to reflect the Hollywood theme of filming different shows, movies, etc - the first being SLSI (CSI) segment of the sea lion show.

A seagull decided to join in on the fun.

Then they had a Sea Lion Idol (more like Dancing with the Stars type), Clyde and Seamore competed with each other. My favorite part was the finale, did you know sea lions dance to PSY too?

Sea Lion Live was definitely my favorite part of Sea World since it was the funniest and lot's of changes and surprises. I wonder how Biff can change so fast, and how none of the trainers slip with the watered down stage for the sea lions to slide around on. Having the otter as the sneaky thief was really adorable.

Outside Sea Lion Live were apparently the sea lions and seals that didn't make the cut for the show's casting. They were eagerly waiting for passerbys to throw fish at them that they could've got if they made it in. So acutally, they don't have to work for treats like the Seamore and Clyde... so now that I think about it, they are the luckier ones.

They were really loud as they fought for food, and wailed at us with puppy eyes if we didn't give them any. Also, see the birds in the back? All the birds, especially seagulls were even more aggressive and tried to snatch the fish away. And it also smelled a bit in this exhibit and penguins, sorry had to put that out there...

Hammy wanted to join in on the dog's race.

Pets Rule The Christmas Show featured a lot of different animals (probably the ones they rescued), from dogs and cats, to kangaroos and ostriches. There were a lot of jokes and funny moments (a black cat jumped into the milk jug, and ran out "drenched" in white), but was obviously geared more towards children. It was cute nonetheless. I love all the pets running around, especially the part when the cat ran off the stage to chase a pigeon that flew in.

Ducks ice skating on "thin ice"

Since this was the Christmas edition of the show, a dog wrote a letter to Santa. He wanted more people to be like those at Sea World and find it in their hearts to adopt other unfortunate pets like he was. It was very sweet, and reflected again on what Sea World's message is.

Other parts of the park included a small pool of sea stars that we can actually touch. I decided to give a huge one a high five for being so awesome.

I love its pink feathers, but I think it's eyes are actually kind of freaky... Which makes me wonder why Candice was nicknamed flamingo, I know for her long legs, but giraffe have long legs too...

Getting attacked by the gift shop shark....

Our failed attempt at catching a selfie with the sharks... :( It was really hard to take photos of the sharks as they moved about really swiftly, and it was very dimly lit. Also, I feel that their sharks, turtles, and penguins exhibits were a bit small. Most likely due to the fact that those aren't the man attractions. They did however, made a neat exhibit for the beluga whales.

Actually I mainly wanted this shot because my outfit matched the place and I always wanted to do that pose but can't do it randomly or I'll look funny, but it all matched! :D

You either took the motion ride or walk through exhibit. It's basically a 3D movie and moving room of an explorer's trip to the North Pole. I took the non 3D and motion version, but the worker said the video was crappy (I think because it's really outdated) so I only stayed for a minuted and left to the next room. Upon "landing," you get to see the helicopter and boxes in a display similar to a landing station. Actually everything in the exhibit was meant to look like an airport or a research base in the North Pole, and was well done.

Sorry for looking freaky, the lighting does that to you...

By the time we were done with the exhibit, it was quite dark but that's when we got to see all the beautiful Christmas decorations come to life. Like these lights in the leaf walls (? is that the term for it?!). Actually we were really lucky the park time was extended, thought it confused me at first when a cafe's closing time was 8:30 PM while the park's was listed as 5PM.

Beautiful decoration from penguin house.

Photo for one of my bestie, Michan, since she loves turtles :)

Our last stop before the mandatory gift store browsing, was the aquarium that took us FOREVER to find. We were running in circles because the park wasn't very lit apart from Christmas lights (oh there was a really cool TALL "Christmas tree" made of lights), and finally a worker helped us out. He was really nice, as all the workers there were. I realized Cali people are really friendly and healthy! Each cafe had salad and fruits, unlike the zoos here! Anyways, it was right by the big starfish, I think we were just really distracted by him beforehand... I was disappointed that the aquarium was quite small too, but again it isn't their main feature. I was cheered up later by watching the dolphins play with beach balls in their pool at night, it was just really cute for some reason. Especially their happy clicking noises.

Then it was time to say goodbye to all the animals!

You can view more photos in my flickr page here.