SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando News

[Jonathan Petersson]

The dolphin calf SeaWorld Orlando rescued in December unfortunately passed away but their rescue from 2023 1.0 Vortex has been deemed non-releasable and will be moved to Dolphin Nursery at some point in the near future.

 

[Devi]

The dolphin calf SeaWorld Orlando rescued in December unfortunately passed away but their rescue from 2023 1.0 Vortex has been deemed non-releasable and will be moved to Dolphin Nursery at some point in the near future.

When I was at the rescue last January they said below a certain age they can’t release. Vortex was already in the nursery with a foster mom and there was a new baby in the rescue pool being introduced to her foster and was staying permanently.

 

[zoologicus]

0.1 California sea lion Nitro passed away on February 5th, 2025. She was born at the park on July 7th, 2001, and has given birth to at least five pups there, including New York Aquarium's 0.1 Nora and SeaWorld San Antonio's 1.0 Murdoch.

Additionally, not sure if it belongs here since the attractions are ticketed separately? But Aquatica's 1.0 Commerson's dolphin Juan passed away on January 21st at an estimated 47 years of age. He sired at least nine calves in his lifetime, including one of Aquatica's surviving Commerson's, 1.0 Ross. There are now only 2.0 Commerson's dolphins remaining in the US, and only 5.3 globally.

 

[Cat-Man]

0.1 California sea lion Nitro passed away on February 5th, 2025. She was born at the park on July 7th, 2001, and has given birth to at least five pups there, including New York Aquarium's 0.1 Nora and SeaWorld San Antonio's 1.0 Murdoch.

Additionally, not sure if it belongs here since the attractions are ticketed separately? But Aquatica's 1.0 Commerson's dolphin Juan passed away on January 21st at an estimated 47 years of age. He sired at least nine calves in his lifetime, including one of Aquatica's surviving Commerson's, 1.0 Ross. There are now only 2.0 Commerson's dolphins remaining in the US, and only 5.3 globally.

They're going to have to think of something new to go in that exhibit, because the Commerson's won't be around forever!

 

[PSO]

And it won't be as nearly as interesting as Commerson's

 

[ThylacineAlive]

They're going to have to think of something new to go in that exhibit, because the Commerson's won't be around forever!

It'll probably just be sharks.

~Thylo

 

[Cat-Man]

It'll probably just be sharks.

~Thylo

Likely the case. To be fair, I've been on the actual slide and you can barely see the dolphins.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Likely the case. To be fair, I've been on the actual slide and you can barely see the dolphins.

I was there for about an hour last month. They didn't seem to enjoy going to that side of the pool much. There's already a group of leopard sharks mixed in which all stay huddled in a corner of the pool the dolphins don't seem to got to.

~Thylo

 

[zoologicus]

I was there for about an hour last month. They didn't seem to enjoy going to that side of the pool much. There's already a group of leopard sharks mixed in which all stay huddled in a corner of the pool the dolphins don't seem to got to.

~Thylo

There's been longstanding discussion on how humane (or not) this arrangement is, for the sharks specifically, though one could very much argue for the dolphins as well. Far be it from me to add to that discussion when I don't have the qualifications to do so, and this is also not the place, but it's definitely worth the consideration from others who do. This description of their behavior just brought it to mind.

 

[Cat-Man]

How long have they been in there?

 

[zoologicus]

How long have they been in there?

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but off the top of my head I believe it's been quite a few years now, since 2018-2020 if not earlier?

 

[PSO]

At least 2017-2018, whatever year I first visited

 

[Kaleb]

Refurbishments are happening at Wild Arctic's beluga habitat. The exhibit is getting a "major facelift".
‘Taking you to the Arctic:’ SeaWorld Orlando unveils flying simulation ride, enhanced Wild Arctic exhibit

 

[Cat-Man]

Refurbishments are happening at Wild Arctic's beluga habitat. The exhibit is getting a "major facelift".
‘Taking you to the Arctic:’ SeaWorld Orlando unveils flying simulation ride, enhanced Wild Arctic exhibit

How big is it? Always seemed a bit small if I recall.

 

[Austin the Sengi]

Refurbishments are happening at Wild Arctic's beluga habitat. The exhibit is getting a "major facelift".
‘Taking you to the Arctic:’ SeaWorld Orlando unveils flying simulation ride, enhanced Wild Arctic exhibit

What an interesting development, I wonder if this refurbishment has anything to do with the opening of the neighboring flying theater attraction?

 

[Austin the Sengi]

Additionally, while the following is not animal-related; we finally have a name for the replacement of the old Wild Arctic simulator, which is going to be named “Expedition Odyssey”*.
*mentioned in the article above

 

[Kaleb]

How big is it? Always seemed a bit small if I recall.

It can hold 3 adult beluga whales, but it cannot accomodate any calves due to inadequate calf rearing space. It is 24 feet deep but can slope down to 9 feet in some areas.

 

[Kaleb]

What an interesting development, I wonder if this refurbishment has anything to do with the opening of the neighboring flying theater attraction?

Yes, per the President of SeaWorld Orlando, this is one part of renovations to Wild Arctic. After this is done they will work on the Penguin habitat. Before working on Beluga, they renovated the Walrus habitat.

 

[Kaleb]

How big is it? Always seemed a bit small if I recall.

Here's a map of it actually.

 

[zoologicus]

How big is it? Always seemed a bit small if I recall.

In addition to the information Kaleb gave, the main habitat holds 390,000 gallons of water while the holding pool is 202,000 gallons — per USDA standards it can hold 14 belugas, though SeaWorld has generally elected to house 4 in the space for much of the exhibit's history, up to a maximum of 5 for very brief periods (the longest being just under 9 months)