Sea World Gold Coast Sea World Gold Coast

[Jambo]

I initially anticipated a walk through aviary with netting covering a pool for swimming etc.

However, having also read up on it, it seems the concept is that it allows rehabilitated birds to choose to leave if they feel ready to survive in the wild; but provides a safe haven if they choose to remain.

Exactly. I was quite surprised to see it was just an open aired pool I had seen only Pelicans in, in the past.

It’s an ingenious idea though, allowing the birds to come and go as the please. I’d imagine a lot of the birds do so but always return to be fed ect.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

Exactly. I was quite surprised to see it was just an open aired pool I had seen only Pelicans in, in the past.

It should have captive Australian Pelicans, Pied Cormorants and a Brown Booby which is particularly notable. All are rescues that were deemed unreleaseable.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

SeaWorld’s Brown Booby has recently moved out of the pelican enclosure and now lives with the Little Penguins. She has been part of the collection for around 20 years - reported on social media.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

Sadly after four months of intensive care, the juvenile False Killer Whale has died and succumbed to his ongoing health issues on Thursday: Log into Facebook | Facebook

 

[OskarGC]

Does anyone have a list of the shark species kept in the Shark Bay exhibit?

 

[Zoofan15]

Does anyone have a list of the shark species kept in the Shark Bay exhibit?

In 2006 they held the following: Sea World keeps four Dusky Whalers, three Tiger Sharks and one Bull Shark in the Shark Bay enclosure at the moment. https://underwater.com.au/article/id/1417-shark-bay-sea-world-a-new-diving-experience/

By 2015, this appears to have dwindled to two Dusky whalers and a Bull shark.

The website currently mentions an opportunity to see Dusky whalers in Shark Bay; as well as Black tip and White tip reef sharks in the Reef Lagoon.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

Does anyone have a list of the shark species kept in the Shark Bay exhibit?

Haven't visited recently but in 2020 I saw the following species below along with some neat species like White-spotted Guitarfish Rhynchobatus australiae and a much higher diversity among the rays. I am almost certain there are some more floor-dwelling sharks as well:

Blacktip Reef Shark Carcharhinus melanopterus
Dusky Whaler Carcharhinus obscurus
Bull Whaler Carcharhinus leucas
Whitetip Reef Shark Triaenodon obesus

 

[Patrick Keegan]

Haven't visited recently but in 2020 I saw the following species below along with some neat species like White-spotted Guitarfish Rhynchobatus australiae and a much higher diversity among the rays. I am almost certain there are some more floor-dwelling sharks as well:

Blacktip Reef Shark Carcharhinus melanopterus
Dusky Whaler Carcharhinus obscurus
Bull Whaler Carcharhinus leucas
Whitetip Reef Shark Triaenodon obesus

I'm not sure if they still house bull whaler shark as I went in june this year and couldn't find her anywhere so she might’ve passed.

 

[Always_Amity]

I'm not sure if they still house bull whaler shark as I went in june this year and couldn't find her anywhere so she might’ve passed.

According to an acquaintance of mine who's a semi-regular at the park she passed sometime around February this year. Though iirc he was told by staff that she was released, which I don't buy. I've got photos of that shark that are over a decade old, it makes no sense she'd randomly be released.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

I visited SeaWorld Gold Coast this morning and noted the following points. A species list and photos will come soon:

• there is now a reef tank with Red Hawkfish, Bicolour Blenny, Pacific Blue Tang and Ocellaris Clownfish with live corals and sea anemones in Sea Jellies Illuminated. There was a marked reduction in the diversity of jellyfish species compared to two years ago but at least they are breeding Lion Mane’s Jellyfish well with lots of tanks for their offspring.

• there are six seals on display in Seal Harbour currently; the park’s pair of Subantarctic Fur-Seals Matilda and Miles were on display in the largest pool. The keeper talk mentioned they are two out of four individuals kept in managed care currently. There were also four California Sea-Lions on-show; two females that were imported from Ocean Park Hong Kong and two females bred at SeaWorld. I also glimpsed a young male Australian Sea-Lion in the seal stadium.

• there are still the three Polar Bears; the female in the smaller enclosure and the brothers sharing the largest exhibit.

• no sign of the Brown Booby anywhere but lots of breeding activity among the Little Penguins.

• Shark Bay was looking excellent as always; the Bull Shark is indeed no longer there but the male Dusky Whaler is nothing to sniff at as the main ‘wow shark’ now. I was pleased to see a single Australian Barracuda was still around and the diversity of reef fish (about a dozen species of butterflyfish for example) maintained. The Green Turtle was in the reef tank and the hybrid Green x Loggerhead Turtle was in the shark tank.

 

[Abbey]

I visited SeaWorld Gold Coast this morning and noted the following points. A species list and photos will come soon:

• there is now a reef tank with Red Hawkfish, Bicolour Blenny, Pacific Blue Tang and Ocellaris Clownfish with live corals and sea anemones in Sea Jellies Illuminated. There was a marked reduction in the diversity of jellyfish species compared to two years ago but at least they are breeding Lion Mane’s Jellyfish well with lots of tanks for their offspring.

• there are six seals on display in Seal Harbour currently; the park’s pair of Subantarctic Fur-Seals Matilda and Miles were on display in the largest pool. The keeper talk mentioned they are two out of four individuals kept in managed care currently. There were also four California Sea-Lions on-show; two females that were imported from Ocean Park Hong Kong and two females bred at SeaWorld. I also glimpsed a young male Australian Sea-Lion in the seal stadium.

• there are still the three Polar Bears; the female in the smaller enclosure and the brothers sharing the largest exhibit.

• no sign of the Brown Booby anywhere but lots of breeding activity among the Little Penguins.

• Shark Bay was looking excellent as always; the Bull Shark is indeed no longer there but the male Dusky Whaler is nothing to sniff at as the main ‘wow shark’ now. I was pleased to see a single Australian Barracuda was still around and the diversity of reef fish (about a dozen species of butterflyfish for example) maintained. The Green Turtle was in the reef tank and the hybrid Green x Loggerhead Turtle was in the shark tank.

The young male Torre from Taronga went to Queensland a couple of years ago, is he possibly the young male Australian Sea Lion you saw? I'm not sure exactly which facility he went to, but it was mentioned on Who's Who at the Zoo that he was representing his father in going back to Queensland, and from memory Charlie (Torre's sire) was originally from SeaWorld.

 

[Zoofan15]

The young male Torre from Taronga went to Queensland a couple of years ago, is he possibly the young male Australian Sea Lion you saw? I'm not sure exactly which facility he went to, but it was mentioned on Who's Who at the Zoo that he was representing his father in going back to Queensland, and from memory Charlie (Torre's sire) was originally from SeaWorld.

Re. Australian sea lions:

Torre was transferred to Sea World in January 2021:

1.0 Torre (05/11/2018) Charlie x Nala

Max, born 2015 at Taronga to Malie and Lexi was also sent there.

 

[Jambo]

The young male Torre from Taronga went to Queensland a couple of years ago, is he possibly the young male Australian Sea Lion you saw? I'm not sure exactly which facility he went to, but it was mentioned on Who's Who at the Zoo that he was representing his father in going back to Queensland, and from memory Charlie (Torre's sire) was originally from SeaWorld.

Re. Australian sea lions:

Torre was transferred to Sea World in January 2021:

1.0 Torre (05/11/2018) Charlie x Nala

Max, born 2015 at Taronga to Malie and Lexi was also sent there.

Charlie was indeed sent down from Seaworld back in 2014.

Max is usually the male who stars in the presentations in Seal Stadium, but it's possible Torre could have joined him there as well.

 

[Tricoart]

Minor update/clarification:

- The Brown-Footed Booby is once again housed alongside the Little Blue Penguins, so the change there seems to have been a temporary one.

- (Courtesy of PBS backstage tour) Sea World still have full intention of continuing their Polar Bear breeding program, but are as of now unsure as to what the best way forward is, or are at the very least in a stagnant period. They are unable to introduce a new male to Mishka whilst Hudson & Nelson remain there, and vice-versa w/ a female while Mishka is still there. It seems they’re assessing whether Hudson & Nelson are on their last legs or not, comparing their lifespans to that of Liya & Lutik’s, with plans to introduce a new male to Mishka once they pass. If it’s determined that they aren’t, however, the plan is then to transfer Mishka in a similar process to Henry, and source a new female for Hudson & Nelson. I doubt that’s what they’d do, though, and they seem averse to transporting Hudson & Nelson elsewhere (likely due to their age), so I reckon it’s more than likely that they’re playing a waiting game. Currently, Hudson & Nelson are being kept together, with them & Mishka alternating between the Shores & Preschool enclosures, though this will change soon as a result of breeding season. Also, they mentioned adapting the unused ‘artificial rain’ system in the Shores enclosure into that of ‘artificial snow’.

- I couldn’t place the species, nor did I get a photo (apologies), but it seemed to me like they’ve either sourced quite a few of a new, smaller shark species for the Ocean tank in Shark Bay, or they’ve sourced/bred(?) juveniles of some kind.

 

[WhistlingKite24]

I couldn’t place the species, nor did I get a photo (apologies), but it seemed to me like they’ve either sourced quite a few of a new, smaller shark species for the Ocean tank in Shark Bay, or they’ve sourced/bred(?) juveniles of some kind.

Thanks for the update. I noticed that as well; they were Grey Reef Sharks Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos.

 

[Zoofan15]

Minor update/clarification:

- The Brown-Footed Booby is once again housed alongside the Little Blue Penguins, at least as of last week.

- (Courtesy of PBS backstage tour) Sea World still have full intention of continuing their Polar Bear breeding program, but are as of now unsure as to what the best way forward is, or at the very least in a stagnant period. They are unable to introduce a new male to Mishka whilst Hudson & Nelson remain there, and vice-versa w/ a female while Mishka is still there. It seems they’re assessing whether Hudson & Nelson are on their last legs or not, comparing their lifespans to that of Liya & Lutik’s, with plans to introduce a new male to Mishka once they pass. If it’s determined that they aren’t, however, the plan is then to transfer Mishka in a similar process to Henry, and source a new female for Hudson & Nelson. I doubt that’s what they’d do, though, and they seem averse to transporting Hudson & Nelson, so I reckon it’s more than likely that they’re just playing a waiting game. Currently, Hudson & Nelson are being kept together, with them & Mishka alternating between the Shores & Preschool enclosures. Also, they mentioned adapting the unused ‘artificial rain’ system in the Shores enclosure into that of artificial snow.

- I couldn’t place the species, nor did I get a photo (apologies), but it seemed to me like they’ve either sourced quite a few of a new, smaller shark species for the Ocean tank in Shark Bay, or they’ve sourced/bred(?) juveniles of some kind.

Thanks for the update. It’s good to know as the only holder of Polar bears in the region, Sea World intend to commit to them long term.

Hudson and Nelson were born November 2003, so will be 20 this year. I don’t know specific details of their health/condition to estimate their lifespan, but Polar bears in the region have lived until 33 years of age - so they could have another decade in them.

Mishka turned seven years old in April and is of prime breeding age. Though females have bred into their early 20’s, I wouldn’t delay breeding from her until her late teens - so whether her father and uncle have another decade in them is the point to consider.

 

[Always_Amity]

Sea World still have full intention of continuing their Polar Bear breeding program, but are as of now unsure as to what the best way forward is, or are at the very least in a stagnant period. They are unable to introduce a new male to Mishka whilst Hudson & Nelson remain there, and vice-versa w/ a female while Mishka is still there. It seems they’re assessing whether Hudson & Nelson are on their last legs or not, comparing their lifespans to that of Liya & Lutik’s, with plans to introduce a new male to Mishka once they pass. If it’s determined that they aren’t, however, the plan is then to transfer Mishka in a similar process to Henry, and source a new female for Hudson & Nelson. I doubt that’s what they’d do, though, and they seem averse to transporting Hudson & Nelson elsewhere (likely due to their age), so I reckon it’s more than likely that they’re playing a waiting game.

During a 'Trainer for a Day' experience I did at Sea World back in Winter of 2019 (when Liya was still alive) a keeper mentioned offhandedly that they were "thinking about bringing in new bears" due to the fact their current breeding group was starting to get up there in age, so it seems they've had at least vague plans of wanting to import new Polar Bears for a while now.

Not really relevant anymore, but they also talked quite a bit about their (at the time) current breeding plans. iirc the plan was to send Mishka out in the not-so-distant future (implied to be aiming for a 2020 departure) with the team mainly looking at facilities who keep their bears in semi-wild areas similar to Cochrane, where they sent Henry (though not to Cochrane specifically). Once Mishka was out, they hoped to pair Liya with the boys the following breeding season (likely 2021).
Obviously this never came to pass, first with covid preventing any sort of departure, and then with Liya's unfortunate passing, but an interesting tidbit regardless.

 

[Tricoart]

Slight Polar Bear update as per keeper talk today: They’ve now, supposedly, got no plans to breed the bears, at least for the next 2 years. ‘Hopefully’ this just means they’ve planned to let Hudson & Nelson live out the rest of their lives there, and will transfer a new male for Mishka after their passing, and not that they’ve halted the program altogether, as that’d be a massive shame.

 

[Zoofan15]

Slight Polar Bear update as per keeper talk today: They’ve now, supposedly, got no plans to breed the bears, at least for the next 2 years. ‘Hopefully’ this just means they’ve planned to let Hudson & Nelson live out the rest of their lives there, and will transfer a new male for Mishka after their passing, and not that they’ve halted the program altogether, as that’d be a massive shame.

Thanks for the update! Hudson and Nelson turn 20 years old in December, so could potentially live another decade. I believe the regional record holder is Joachim, who died at the age of 33 years at Auckland Zoo in 1995.

Mishka is six years old, so now of prime breeding age. Breeding success declines from their late teens onwards, but I believe the record for the oldest first time dam was a 20 year old female in Europe. She’d likely be in her mid-teens when her father/uncle pass, so it’s worth holding on to her imo. Whether we could source more is tenuous, so it’d be regrettable to export her on that assumption.

 

[Jambo]

Slight Polar Bear update as per keeper talk today: They’ve now, supposedly, got no plans to breed the bears, at least for the next 2 years. ‘Hopefully’ this just means they’ve planned to let Hudson & Nelson live out the rest of their lives there, and will transfer a new male for Mishka after their passing, and not that they’ve halted the program altogether, as that’d be a massive shame.

Thanks for the update! Hudson and Nelson turn 20 years old in December, so could potentially live another decade. I believe the regional record holder is Joachim, who died at the age of 33 years at Auckland Zoo in 1995.

Mishka is six years old, so now of prime breeding age. Breeding success declines from their late teens onwards, but I believe the record for the oldest first time dam was a 20 year old female in Europe. She’d likely be in her mid-teens when her father/uncle pass, so it’s worth holding on to her imo. Whether we could source more is tenuous, so it’d be regrettable to export her on that assumption.

I'm just very glad they have abandoned plans to send Mishka overseas to breed. It would be a big shame to lose Polar Bears regionally, especially with imports being scarce.

Polar Bear's rarely live into their 30's, and considering both boys are males, I'd assume they'll live another decade at the most. I guess Seaworld's best bet in this situation is to wait until both males pass, and then acquire a male to be paired with Mishka.