Best UK Sea Lion enclosure

Best UK Sea Lion enclosure?

  • Banham

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • WMSP

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Blackpool

    Votes: 21 42.0%

  • Whipsnade

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Flamingo Land

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Longleat

    Votes: 8 16.0%

  • Belfast

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Colchester

    Votes: 21 42.0%

  • Dudley

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    50
  • Poll closed .
Cat-Man said:
When was the Blackpool enclosure built, and why did they never get dolphins?
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I would imagine the pool is about as old as the zoo (opened 1972) or thereabouts. As to why no dolphins, not sure. There were plenty of local dolphinariums around in the 70s, but the management probably decided that the upkeep and lack of salinity in the pool was the negatives for keeping dolphins.
 
tetrapod said:
I would imagine the pool is about as old as the zoo (opened 1972) or thereabouts. As to why no dolphins, not sure. There were plenty of local dolphinariums around in the 70s, but the management probably decided that the upkeep and lack of salinity in the pool was the negatives for keeping dolphins.
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The current Blackpool enclosure was opened in 2010 - although is on the site of the original pool built on the 70's - and I don't for a second believe it was ever intended for dolphins. The design of it is not suitable at all.
 
@Zia you are obviously correct with the date, but mention of dolphins has been seen before on here! @tetrapod was obviously way off the mark as to the age of the exhibit!!
 
pipaluk said:
@Zia you are obviously correct with the date, but mention of dolphins has been seen before on here! @tetrapod was obviously way off the mark as to the age of the exhibit!!
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I believe there may have been aspirations to keep dolphins - but not in that pool without significant refurbishment. Sloping sides, not deep enough and no holding pools? It clearly doesn't follow even the design features considered necessary in the 70's.
 
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Zia said:
I believe there may have been aspirations to keep dolphins - but not in that pool without significant refurbishment. Sloping sides, not deep enough and no holding pools? It clearly doesn't follow even the design features considered necessary in the 70's.
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Aspirations to keep dolphins in the 70s or with the new current pool?? I assume the former but I've heard more surprising things!
 
PaleoMatt said:
Aspirations to keep dolphins in the 70s or with the new current pool?? I assume the former but I've heard more surprising things!
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No, the new pool!!! You obviously haven't read enough of the thread! Although to be fair @tetrapod confused things!
 
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PaleoMatt said:
Aspirations to keep dolphins in the 70s or with the new current pool?? I assume the former but I've heard more surprising things!
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I would say neither - if there were aspirations then I don't believe they included using either of the new / old pool (the new one is a refurb of the original pool). Tbh I believe the aspirations were mainly rumoured when the site was taken over by the Parques Reunidos group around 2003 - they run other oceanariums and I keep cetaceans in their Spanish parks.
 
pipaluk said:
@Zia you are obviously correct with the date, but mention of dolphins has been seen before on here! @tetrapod was obviously way off the mark as to the age of the exhibit!!
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You have all been sucked in by great marketing from Blackpool Zoo. The sealion enclosure is exactly the same as the original one - it is not new. It just had a refurb with nice looking mock-rock on the back wall and a new perspex window front. Have a google for old photos to make the comparison. The dimensions of the pool have not changed, and as I said before the original intention was to house dolphins. Anybody looking at it with current eyes can see that it would be woefully too small now, but that wasn't necessarily the case when it was originally built. So no I wasn't way off the mark.
 
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Zia said:
I would say neither - if there were aspirations then I don't believe they included using either of the new / old pool (the new one is a refurb of the original pool). Tbh I believe the aspirations were mainly rumoured when the site was taken over by the Parques Reunidos group around 2003 - they run other oceanariums and I keep cetaceans in their Spanish parks.
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Then you would be wrong re: circa 70s Blackpool Zoo.The exhibit hadn't changed dramatically under the local council until the Spanish group's makeover. It didn't surprise me when I was told by very long-term staff about the original proposal. Thankfully it never eventuated.
Blackpool would never have considered dolphins after the Spanish owners took over in 2003. Firstly I doubt a current UK zoo would ever consider housing cetaceans in the current environment. Certainly not one that isn't based alongside the sea. Secondly BZ is way too small a footprint. Thirdly the sealions are a big enough draw in themselves.
 
tetrapod said:
Then you would be wrong re: circa 70s Blackpool Zoo.The exhibit hadn't changed dramatically under the local council until the Spanish group's makeover. It didn't surprise me when I was told by very long-term staff about the original proposal. Thankfully it never eventuated.
Blackpool would never have considered dolphins after the Spanish owners took over in 2003. Firstly I doubt a current UK zoo would ever consider housing cetaceans in the current environment. Certainly not one that isn't based alongside the sea. Secondly BZ is way too small a footprint. Thirdly the sealions are a big enough draw in themselves.
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Hence the words 'neither' and 'rumoured' in my post. If you read what I've said properly you'll see that I don't believe either the original pool, nor the refurbed version would ever have been designed for or considered for dolphins.

I can believe (as in - I would not be suprised if) there were aspirations to keep dolphins in the 70's / 80's but it does not follow that the sealion pool was intended for this purpose. It clearly wasn't.
 
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tetrapod said:
You have all been sucked in by great marketing from Blackpool Zoo. The sealion enclosure is exactly the same as the original one - it is not new. It just had a refurb with nice looking mock-rock on the back wall and a new perspex window front. Have a google for old photos to make the comparison. The dimensions of the pool have not changed, and as I said before the original intention was to house dolphins. Anybody looking at it with current eyes can see that it would be woefully too small now, but that wasn't necessarily the case when it was originally built. So no I wasn't way off the mark.
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I'm aware that the current pool is a refurb of the original - which is why I believe neither were intended for dolphins.

Edit to add - we're obviously not going to agree on this. You believe what you have heard - I do not. It is however, a very nice sealion pool.
 
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I accept that in your view that there was no chance of Blackpool's pool ever being used for dolphins. However you should really look at what other collections were doing at a similar time:
The Dolphinarium (Sea Lion Show) - ZooChat
That pool at Whipsnade is smaller than Blackpool's. As I said before in current eyes it looks ridiculous to think BZ might have considered dolphins, but probably not with a 70s vision of zoo management.

And just for a bit clarity, I worked at BZ a while back with the sealions (so I know the original setup very well), and also with a number of very long-term staff. While I appreciate your comments, I'll take their word on this subject.

And yes I agree as sealion pools go it is a good size. They have also had a good breeding record.
 
Zia said:
Pleasurewood Hills is easily the worst I have seen personally. My vote is between Blackpool and Colchester. I've plumped for Blackpool atm as I believe the underwater tunnel at Colchester is the reason they are unable to house a bull. I think I enjoyed seeing the babies at Blackpool more than being able to walk through the tunnel at Colchester.

I won't vote for Longleat as it is fresh water and you also have little choice but to take the boat ride if you want to view the sealions. I don't mind the boat ride - it is quite good fun - but I imagine this can involve a lot of queuing in peak periods. I feel similarly about the train ride at Colchester. They are both designed to corral large groups of visitors and occupy them in a queue for long periods of time. I'd rather have the option of not doing them but still see the animals.
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This is a good theory but actually I think Playa Patagonia (CZ sealion enclosure) can house males and did house 1 along with 2 females when the enclosure opened. They quickly died, however and were replaced with the 5 young females still there today- they have just chosen not to go out of their way to breed them. Also 1:5 and young may be too many individuals for the enclosure. The enclosure was completed in 2003 and at the time was the most expensive enclosure built.
 
Rajang-GOAT said:
This is a good theory but actually I think Playa Patagonia (CZ sealion enclosure) can house males......they have just chosen not to go out of their way to breed them.
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No, the prior statements were correct - the glass in the underwater tunnel is neither thick nor strong enough to meet minimal safety requirements for housing a bull sealion.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
No, the prior statements were correct - the glass in the underwater tunnel is neither thick nor strong enough to meet minimal safety requirements for housing a bull sealion.
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I completely understand and believe you, but then how was a male allowed when it opened?
 
Looking back, although it may have originally been stated that the intention was to breed in the pool (hence the off show birthing pool), what probably happened is after or maybe before it was opened CZ may have been told they could not house a breeding male because of the tunnel, so just housed the current (at the time) male and 2 females then went on the safe side instead getting 5 young females when the previous died. It seems likely that now if they ever breed it will be through A.I. However, although sealions normally live for about 25 years and Colchester's are approaching that, they might not pass for a while anyway, maybe A.I could be used if a couple of the current females die.
 
Rajang-GOAT said:
Looking back, although it may have originally been stated that the intention was to breed in the pool (hence the off show birthing pool), what probably happened is after or maybe before it was opened CZ may have been told they could not house a breeding male because of the tunnel, so just housed the current (at the time) male and 2 females then went on the safe side instead getting 5 young females when the previous died. It seems likely that now if they ever breed it will be through A.I. However, although sealions normally live for about 25 years and Colchester's are approaching that, they might not pass for a while anyway, maybe A.I could be used if a couple of the current females die.
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Is AI even a thing with Pinnipeds?
 
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