San Diego Trip - Seaworld

I walked by this 24 Hour Fitness Center on my way around the corner between my hotel and the supermarket and had to get a picture. While I was taking photos, everyone walked up the stairs in the middle, but after I was out of range, some guy all kitted out in spandex shorts and muscle T rode liesurely up. In all fairness, the fitness center just happens to be in the middle of a two-story mini-mall so that the mall escalators debouch there.

Evan and I went to San Diego for a field trip with his biology class: Seaworld on Friday, the Zoo on Saturday. His prof requires four field trips, which can be taken with the class or freelance, so I renewed our San Diego Zoo membership, booked a cheap hotel and went with Evan to San Diego on Thursday evening. Friday morning, we bolted a fast food breakfast (egg and bacon hockey puck) and presented ourselves punctually at the Sea World Research Center as directed, but they had no record of the existence of the class. So then we went to the main gate, waited awhile until they started allowing vehicles to enter (got lucky there - they weren't charging the usual $10 for parking) and followed the signs to the Education Entrance. We still didn't see anybody from Evan's class, but there were a few other people there, and it seemed the most likely place, so we waited.

Presently, Evan saw someone he knew, and while we were talking with her, a couple of guys drove by and informed us the professor would be an hour late, and they were going to get breakfast. As promised, the prof was about an hour late, but then we had to wait for the guys who left. Finally, a mere hour and forty-five minutes after the assigned meeting time, we entered.

First, we caught the last bit of a trained dog and cat show, and then we rode the Wild Arctic ride. The ride itself is entertaining, but it goes by way too fast. The best part of Wild Arctic has to be the exhibit attached, which showcases beluga whales, polar bears and walruses. Evan's prof went on at great length, but in spite of being long-winded, he was entertaining. I did find his advice to eschew farmed Atlantic salmon in favor of wild Pacific salmon a bit amusing. While Atlantic salmon is widely available and reasonably affordable, I haven't seen Pacific salmon in a seafood market around here for a long time at any price. Then he recommended a couple of expensive restaurants in San Diego (among them, Ruth's Chris steakhouse) to community college students who had probably already blown their budgets just to come on this field trip.

Fortunately, his comments on the topic of marine wildlife were far more appropriate. I already knew a lot of it, but I did find out the way to tell the difference between male and female walruses. As our tour guide at the zoo explained the next day (about camels), "you have to look at their boy and girl parts."

Beluga whales at the San Diego Seaworld Wild Arctic exhibit.

Kissy walrus

Polar Bear just chillin'

After leaving the Wild Arctic exhibit, we went on to see Alcids (the penguin habitat was closed), sharks, and numerous other marine mammals and fish. After the sharks, I started to lose interest, since it was time for lunch. Finally, at about 1:30, the prof outlined the rest of our visit. He was going to let us out on our own, but we would need to see the Whale and Dolphin Show at 3:00, the Pinniped Show at 3:30 and the Killer Whale Show at 4:30. We should, he told us, have plenty of time for lunch and the two rides - Shipwreck Rapids and Journey to Atlantis before the first show. Ha.

Evan and I cut out before the prof had entirely wrapped things up, went to the first decent eatery and had a reasonable lunch. After this, we tried to find a map, but finally gave up and went to the Journey to Atlantis ride, which was new since our last visit. On inspection, it didn't look like something I was willing to get wet for, so I encouraged Evan to zip up his jacket and go by himself. He did, and fortunately he only got mildly splashed. He did not find it a particularly impressive ride, but at least he's got another coaster credit. Coaster Enthusiasts count each different coaster they ride as a credit. Evan has over a hundred.

The dolphin show was just beginning as we got to the amphitheater. It was nice, but nothing new or spectacular. I do hope that the dolphins and pilot whales love to splash the audience, since that comprises one segment of their performance. Seaworld marks the seats likely to get splashed, and plenty of people sit there, even on a cool November afternoon. I, as you may guess, avoid those seats. The pinniped show was a lot of fun, if terribly hokey. The best part was the mime, who warmed up the audience and then had a couple of amusing cameos during the actual show. The sealions and otter performed their roles capably and seemed to be having fun, as did the trainers.

Oh, no! It's a mime field!

The killer whale show was impressive, largely because of the size of the performers. I did conclude that a show's humor content was inversely proportional to the mass of the animals involved. The bigger the stars, the more serious the show. Except for the requisite "splash time," the Killer Whale show was dead serious, if, in its own way, as hokey as the Pinniped show.