SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego News

Julio C Castro said:
I wanted to ask for a general consensus: should I visit SeaWorld now or wait until later due to COVID? I’ve only every visited once 15 years ago and really am curious to know what are some animals that would make the visit worth it. I know they have a solid penguin collection and walruses too, are there other animals that aren’t found too often at other facilities? I plan visit San Diego county in a few weeks, mainly for Butterfly Jungle at SDZSP :) appreciate any feedback or tips!
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It really depends on what you want to see, almost all of their major exhibits are out dated but the place is still very beautiful. If you are wondering about collection they have a large amount of sharks, sea turtles, pilot whales, northern sea otters, and of course Orcas (they had ringed seal but right I believe it is backstage). The advantage to going right now is the map clearly shows where you can see most of the species, the rides are closed so there are less crowds, and most of the exhibits are open. The problems are that Aquaria World of Fishes and Turtle Reef are both closed. So you could go with less crowds but two less exhibits:
 
Julio C Castro said:
I wanted to ask for a general consensus: should I visit SeaWorld now or wait until later due to COVID? I’ve only every visited once 15 years ago and really am curious to know what are some animals that would make the visit worth it. I know they have a solid penguin collection and walruses too, are there other animals that aren’t found too often at other facilities? I plan visit San Diego county in a few weeks, mainly for Butterfly Jungle at SDZSP :) appreciate any feedback or tips!
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Julio, were you aware that the Safari Park has changed the way you visit the Butterfly Jungle? It is now part of their "safari upgrades".Butterfly Jungle
 
betsy said:
Julio, were you aware that the Safari Park has changed the way you visit the Butterfly Jungle? It is now part of their "safari upgrades".Butterfly Jungle
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Yes I did and thank you for reminding me, I’m gonna buy my tickets for when I get my set days off to make sure I get for the day I can make the visit. I heard that it was free before but this will be my first time going to it! :oops:
 
Westcoastperson said:
It really depends on what you want to see, almost all of their major exhibits are out dated but the place is still very beautiful. If you are wondering about collection they have a large amount of sharks, sea turtles, pilot whales, northern sea otters, and of course Orcas (they had ringed seal but right I believe it is backstage). The advantage to going right now is the map clearly shows where you can see most of the species, the rides are closed so there are less crowds, and most of the exhibits are open. The problems are that Aquaria World of Fishes and Turtle Reef are both closed. So you could go with less crowds but two less exhibits:
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Thank you for the details, I greatly appreciate the info! I would love to photograph the sea otters and sharks if possible, have the right lenses for underwater shots :)
 
Julio C Castro said:
Yes I did and thank you for reminding me, I’m gonna buy my tickets for when I get my set days off to make sure I get for the day I can make the visit. I heard that it was free before but this will be my first time going to it! :oops:
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I think you will love it! I have gone when it was free and very crowded! It should be great being semi-private. Can you let me know what you think? I am not sure I want to spend $60.00 for just me.
 
betsy said:
I think you will love it! I have gone when it was free and very crowded! It should be great being semi-private. Can you let me know what you think? I am not sure I want to spend $60.00 for just me.
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Will do and I’ll let you know day of when I’m there :) I plan to make a visit to SeaWorld so it’s gonna be a busy 3 days :D
 
Julio C Castro said:
Thank you for the details, I greatly appreciate the info! I would love to photograph the sea otters and sharks if possible, have the right lenses for underwater shots :)
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If you go could you take some general photos of the east side of the park (wild Arctic, penguin encounter, and shark encounter). Because shark encounter should be updated, they should be working on updating wild Arctic, and penguin encounter is rumored to be getting changed this year. So just anything that catches you eye like construction walls or closed off areas would be great.
 
Amaya passed away

SeaWorld said in a statement: "Despite her care team’s efforts, Amaya’s condition continued to decline rapidly. Her death was sudden and unexpected. This is a very difficult time for those who knew and loved Amaya. She inspired millions of guests to appreciate and learn more about this amazing species. The specialists who cared for her at SeaWorld are heartbroken."

Link to full story from NBC 7 San Diego: 6-Year-Old Orca Dies at SeaWorld San Diego
 
Moebelle said:
Amaya passed away

SeaWorld said in a statement: "Despite her care team’s efforts, Amaya’s condition continued to decline rapidly. Her death was sudden and unexpected. This is a very difficult time for those who knew and loved Amaya. She inspired millions of guests to appreciate and learn more about this amazing species. The specialists who cared for her at SeaWorld are heartbroken."

Link to full story from NBC 7 San Diego: 6-Year-Old Orca Dies at SeaWorld San Diego
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It really is a quite a shame to loose yet another orca at any of the Seaworld parks, (especially a young calf like Amaya) but regardless of that, may this poor calf rest in peace.
 
Moebelle said:
Amaya passed away

SeaWorld said in a statement: "Despite her care team’s efforts, Amaya’s condition continued to decline rapidly. Her death was sudden and unexpected. This is a very difficult time for those who knew and loved Amaya. She inspired millions of guests to appreciate and learn more about this amazing species. The specialists who cared for her at SeaWorld are heartbroken."

Link to full story from NBC 7 San Diego: 6-Year-Old Orca Dies at SeaWorld San Diego
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This is absolutely devastating news. If I had to guess which one of the ten at San Diego would die first, I definetly would've guessed Corky. This is just so sad. The third orca loss this year, all were so young :(
 
Moebelle said:
Amaya passed away
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This was completely unexpected, I'm still in a little bit of shock

Around 2008/2009 killer whales became my absolute favorite animals after I found out about San Diego's Shamu Cam (I remember sharing it on the old official Zoo Tycoon forums, throwback anyone?). I kept it open constantly, always running it off to the side while I did other tasks on the computer. I learned about the individual whales, names, genealogies, histories, all of that, and by 2011 I was fully and heavily involved in the community of likeminded individuals. Being a young teenager with not much else to do and a lot to escape from in my life, I was completely obsessed with that community and those whales haha, it was the only thing on my mind.

Fast forward to 2013/early 2014, I was really lucky to be one of the relatively few people to learn about Amaya really early on in Kalia's pregnancy thanks to a really good, close friend at the time, long before it was revealed to the general public. That was so incredibly exciting to be able to receive updates on her pregnancy from that early on -- that's not an opportunity that someone like me, having no professional connections at that time, got often and I definitely didn't take the privilege for granted. She was the last killer whale calf I followed closely before moving on to other primary interests, such treasured and happy memories those were. She was such a special little whale and this is a very shocking and unexpected loss.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying that I know a lot of people have stories very similar to mine and a lot of people will be feeling this loss on a very deep and personal level, even outside of those closest to her, her trainers etc. There's not a lot of animals that people feel connected to as strongly as with killer whales -- I know for me, being a lifelong zoo enthusiast, killer whales were the first species where I got to know the animals as individuals, and I feel like that's had a lasting impact on me and how I view and appreciate animals in general.

Rest in peace frecklebaby, all of my thoughts and love to those around the world that are hurting for her loss right now
 
snowleopard said:
SeaWorld San Diego has reopened Turtle Reef after it had been closed for 18 months. Here is a brief article about the renovation of the exhibit:

SeaWorld San Diego reopens upgraded sea turtle habitat
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It is great to see they are still serious about animals and investing to maintain a great facility. Turtle Reef was the park’s shark exhibit in the 1980s. It is an attractive facility compared to all the butt-ugly rides they have added recently!
 
SeaWorld San Diego has announced the old Sea Lions live show will be ending this month and will be replaced with a new educational show for Sea Lions and Otters. This will be the second SeaWorld park to change their Sea Lion show after San Antonio announced they would end their Sea Lion High show in April.
 
Short-Finned Pilot Whale Argo, a rescued male whale from Japan, died 7/2/22 at SeaWorld San Diego

SeaWorld San Diego

This leave the park with 2 pilot whales:
SWC (0.2)
Ava F
Piper F

SeaWorld California remains the only place in North America to see these whales on exhibit, and likely no chance of any breeding given Argo was the last male on exhibit.
 
MidwestFan said:
Short-Finned Pilot Whale Argo, a rescued male whale from Japan, died 7/2/22 at SeaWorld San Diego

SeaWorld San Diego

This leave the park with 2 pilot whales:
SWC (0.2)
Ava F
Piper F

SeaWorld California remains the only place in North America to see these whales on exhibit, and likely no chance of any breeding given Argo was the last male on exhibit.
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There was never a chance of breeding the pilot whales. SeaWorlds Pilot Whale program is strictly rescues. The point of keeping them together is for social interaction. Ava, piper, and another pilot whale were moved to San Diego to keep Argo company. Honestly SeaWorld SD has a history of taking in rescued pilot whales from all around the world and pilot whale strandings aren’t rare so I doubt this marks the end of pilot whales in captivity.
 
Westcoastperson said:
There was never a chance of breeding the pilot whales. SeaWorlds Pilot Whale program is strictly rescues. The point of keeping them together is for social interaction. Ava, piper, and another pilot whale were moved to San Diego to keep Argo company. Honestly SeaWorld SD has a history of taking in rescued pilot whales from all around the world and pilot whale strandings aren’t rare so I doubt this marks the end of pilot whales in captivity.
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I apologize if that was interpreted as breeding program. I was more pointing out that no breeding would be able to take place now without a male. While it is a rescue program now (Bubbles and Shadow/Niner were not rescues), they have historically been without male pilot whales. With other rescue animals, breeding has occurred, and there was some hope that we would see such with pilot whales. The scientific value of that would have been helpful in protecting the wild population, much like the research conducted with the killer whales.
 
MidwestFan said:
I apologize if that was interpreted as breeding program. I was more pointing out that no breeding would be able to take place now without a male. While it is a rescue program now (Bubbles and Shadow/Niner were not rescues), they have historically been without male pilot whales. With other rescue animals, breeding has occurred, and there was some hope that we would see such with pilot whales. The scientific value of that would have been helpful in protecting the wild population, much like the research conducted with the killer whales.
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SeaWorlds policy since bubbles and shadows has shifted. They have no intention of breeding only rescuing. Although with the loss of Orcas slowly approaching SeaWorld could see pilot whales as a fitting replacement. The main reason for the rescue, no breeding policy was space but that will slowly begin to free up.
 
ketoflukes said:
Nakai, a 20 year old male killer whale, died Thursday night at SeaWorld San Diego. According to an official statement made by SeaWorld on Friday, Nakai had been suffering from a treatment resistant infection. Rest in peace, Nakai!

Read the full Facebook statement here: SeaWorld’s Statement
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It'll be good to have an official cause of death. There's been rumuors it was a lung infection or something of the sort, but it's yet to be formally announced.

They've only had Ulises, Keet, Corky and Ike performing since his death. Orkid's been hit the hardest with his death; she's now lost all of her male best friends (Splash, Sumar, and now, Nakai).
 
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