This year has begun, like many others, for all of us here at SeaWorld. With opening day just around the corner, it often prompts the question: What does everyone do when there are no guests to interact with, or shows to perform in, or rides to operate? Well, even though many of our usual activities are not in full swing, we have been hard at work preparing for opening day of the 2010 season, Saturday, Feb. 27.
In the aquarium department, preparing includes fixing up our animal displays, acquiring new animals, moving other animals to different aquariums, moving animals around in the exhibits and even overhauling some of our exhibits to prepare for the arrival of the new animals.
Red Sea Golden Butterflyfish
Some of our new additions can be seen right when you walk in the door to our Sharks/The Coral Reef building. Our first aquarium now houses some new fish species including many pink, orange and yellow Anthias, or Fairy Basslets. You’ll recognize them by their brilliant colors and their tendency to stay together in groups of about a dozen fish. The biggest and most brilliantly colored one in each group is a male and all of the others are females or juveniles.
Longfin Fairy Wrasse (left), Bartlett's Anthias (center and right)
We’ve also added some small fairy wrasses. There are many different types, with brilliant shades of orange, green, blue and red. You can always spot a wrasse by the way they swim. Wrasses swim by simultaneously flapping their pectoral fins (these are the fins on each side that are like the arms of the fish) and hardly ever use their tail to propel themselves.
Also, if you look close to the reef, you may be able to spot a Trunkfish. These look like a small swimming pyramid.
Big changes are also on the way for some of our smaller aquariums, such as a new type of jellyfish and another surprise that’s on it’s way in the coming months. I can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet, but we will have an entirely new exhibit opening soon. We’ve spent many hours overhauling one of our exhibits to house some new animals I think you are going to love.
Tien, one of the park's Asian small-clawed otters.
The Asian small-clawed otter, Amblonyx cinerea , is small and deceptively cute. Don’t be fooled by their looks though, the otters that we have at SeaWorld average 6.5 pounds and can be very destructive in their exhibits. Some male otters like to scent everything in the exhibit. This means stomping all over the plants. They also rip the plants apart to use them for bedding. This is the benefit of having naturalized exhibits for the otters because we can observe some of these behaviors.
We like that the otters find their exhibits reinforcing, but we also want the exhibit to look presentable. Plants have to be hardy to survive the attentions of an Asian small-clawed otter. This year we are beginning the first stages of prepping one of the two otter exhibits for opening day at the park, Saturday, Feb. 27.
In the smaller exhibit, not much made it through last year between the heat and attentions of the otters.
This is something we do every year, but the amount of work needed can vary. This year the first steps will be getting some spots on the wall repainted and filling in areas with new dirt and some new rock work. Fortunately, the second otter exhibit has plants that have taken really well, so little work needs to be done this year.
Both otter exhibits were originally concrete deck and pools,
This is what the smaller otter exhibit looked like before our staff naturalized it.
but the Animal Care staff built waterfalls and added dirt, rocks and plants in the early 1990’s.
Smaller exhibit after its original redesign.
Be sure to check back in a few weeks for part two of the exhibit upgrade! That’s the fun part that involves picking and placing plants in the exhibit.
After nine years, on October 30, 2009 we performed the very last VIVA! show. We shut down our stadium and began the monumental task of creating a new show. After almost three months of construction and painting, rehearsals for our new beluga whale and Pacific white-sided dolphin show are in full swing. It’s a very exciting time for us!
Our animal training team has been busy working with our animals on many projects, not just the show. We received two new beluga whales from another zoological facility and we’re acclimating them to their new home. Bolt, the Pacific white-sided dolphin born this summer, is doing well and beginning to learn new behaviors. Don’t think he’ll be quite ready for shows this year, but he sure is cute!
The new show will be cool. We’ve been playing the new music (composed exclusively for our show) in our stadium in an effort to learn the musical beats, crescendos and transitions that will serve as cues for animal behaviors. It’s a lot of work and timing can be tricky. We’re working on the animal choreography, trying to put into practice what we, along with our creative consultants, have been planning. Sometimes what looks great on paper doesn’t translate well when you put it into the pool. It’s a fun process though and the team is doing a great job. Kudos to them for donning wetsuits and getting in the water even on the cold days!
Mark, Slade and Robyn practicing the timing of a beluga behavior with Sikku.
About two weeks ago, our non-animal performers came back and began practicing. Many of them had left town to visit family. Some went on a backpack tour of Europe. (Lucky!) Others remained in town and took other jobs. Regardless, all of them are excited to begin rehearsing the new show.
Practicing the Russian swing at the ski lake.
Synchronized swimmers doing "land drills".
We are thrilled to welcome four new faces to the cast. Synchronized swimmers Georgia and Maggie, and divers Mike and Brandon bring years of experience in their crafts as well as high levels of enthusiasm. They’re an interesting bunch… Georgia recently legally changed her name, Maggie once rescued and raised baby sloths, Brandon is an expert juggler, and Mike was actually struck by lightening once which resulted in his eyebrow turning white! I know they’re going to have a great time and we’re going to be a stronger team with them . They are terrific and I’m excited to get to know them better.
Meet Georgia, Mike, Brandon and Maggie, the newest members of the cast.
Many folks have been asking about the name of the new show. I even tweeted about it (www.Twitter.com/ChuckCureau) and offered hints recently. Some followers thought that we would follow suit with the other SeaWorld parks and call it “Blue Horizons.” Nope! There were some hilarious guesses (“Greens n’ Chitlins” ?!?) but after much brainstorming we’re pleased to announce that the new name is (…drum roll please…) “Azul.” Be sure to come see it when it premieres March 12. I’ll be there. I hope you will be too!
First of all, let me just take a moment to say thanks to all of your wonderful stories about Paying It Forward over the holidays (Check out the comments on our PIF page).
Just because the holiday season has come to an end, doesn’t mean holiday spirit doesn’t linger on. SeaWorld San Antonio takes the opportunity to pay it forward to organizations regularly. A few non-profit organizations that SeaWorld has relationships with are Big Brothers Big Sisters, San Antonio Food Bank, St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen and United Way.
In recent years, SeaWorld San Antonio compiled a team for Bowl for Kids' Sake, an annual Big Brothers Big Sisters event, to raise funds for the mentoring program.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas (also on Twitter and Facebook) is headquartered in San Antonio and serves the San Antonio community and surrounding counties by providing mentoring relationships for children, giving them a big brother or big sister to guide them to positive achievement as they grow.
Amy Persyn, Event Specialist at Big Brothers Big Sisters, helps raise money to support the matches between SeaWorld team members and the students. She said it’s most rewarding to see matches take place. “We hear feedback from struggling parents who are grateful to have their children in the program and from matches who have been paired up. It is great to hear the story behind the matches and how the bigs and littles were brought together.”
The San Antonio Food Bank
The San Antonio Food Bank (also on Twitter and Facebook) provides a supply of free food to 440 different agencies that help the needy in the San Antonio community and 16 surrounding counties. They lend a helping hand to families and individuals struck by homelessness, substance abuse, employment, broken families, and much more.
Team Members help out by boxing up food donations to the San Antonio Food Bank
The park is proud to help such a great organization. In fact, this last year we participated in San Antonio Food Bank’s “30 Ways in 30 Days” to fight hunger campaign, where we hosted a canned food drive offering admission discounts to park guests for every ten cans they donated.
Eric. S. Cooper, executive director of the San Antonio Food Bank said, “The San Antonio Food Bank is thrilled to be partnering with SeaWorld San Antonio, an organization committed to bettering the lives of those in our area struggling with hunger and food insecurity.”
The Society of St. Vincent DePaul
The Society of St. Vincent DePaul is a group of individuals who provide spiritual and physical assistance to those in need by serving nutritious meals to the hungry everyday.
SeaWorld San Antonio sends a group of team members to volunteer at the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen several times throughout the year.
Sylvia Najera, kitchen manager at the soup kitchen, says volunteers are needed daily to prepare and serve the food, especially during the holidays; there is always something to be done. Sylvia describes sitting down for a meal as a small comfort in the day, “at least they can sit down for a meal and relax.”
United Wayof San Antonio and Bexar County
The United Way (also on Twitter and Facebook) is a worldwide effort consisting of 45 countries and over 1,300 organizations right here in the United States. They work to improve education, income, health care and to build a stronger community.
SeaWorld San Antonio has partnered with the United Way and helped raise money for the community through projects, silent auctions and generous donations. This past year’s campaign was lead by the park’s Zoological Department who set a goal to raise $50,000, and in the end they exceeded their goal by more then 10 percent. Suzanne Straw, a member of the Zoological Department, said she was personally proud of the department’s planning efforts.
I’m proud our park lends a helping hand whenever we can. Have you ever volunteered your time to any of these organizations or projects in your community? The donation of your time is worth a lot more than you might imagine.
SeaWorld San Antonio becomes such a different place when we’re not open to the public. At first glance it seems peaceful and serene, but once you look a little closer, it is still a bustle of activity!
During winter months, our Aquarium Department has the opportunity to refurbish, enhance and maybe even change the smaller aquariums in our Sharks/The Coral Reef habitat. They also are working on expanding their facilities to propagate and grow very fragile live coral species and build a space to raise frogs.
Even though we are closed and there are not any shows or guests at the community pools, the animal trainers and keepers stay busy as well. They still work with, feed and care for the animals, work on animal behaviors for shows in 2010, welcome guests on the Sea Lion and Beluga Interaction Programs, and now they are busier than ever after the arrival of the killer whale calf on January 7. As the calf swims alongside its mother, the trainers observe and record behaviors such as nursing, breathing, swimming patterns and bonding.
Did you know that it is the middle of summer for our penguins? Since penguins are naturally found in the Southern Hemisphere, they are on an “austral” season cycle, which is the opposite of what we experience. If you visited the park in July, you may have noticed that it was dark inside the Penguin Encounter. This is because July is the middle of winter in the Sub-Antarctic, where our species are naturally found. Now that we are in January, the penguins are experiencing their summertime, and are busy caring for their eggs and raising chicks recently born in the habitat.
We also offer a special tour called Seafari, which gives our guests an opportunity to see the park when it’s not open to the public. If you have ever been curious about seeing what it would be like to visit SeaWorld and have the park to yourself, feed dolphins and sea lions away from the crowds, and get a behind-the-scenes peek at what it is like to care for the animals during our winter months, then click here to begin planning your SeaWorld experience.
SeaWorld is a seasonal theme park. We closed January 3 and open again on February 27. This allows for the perception that we don’t have much to do while the park is closed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that for many of us this time period is almost busier than daily operation. Even when we are closed there are special tours, educational programs, resident campers, and a team of employees that are working 24/7 preparing to welcome back guests when regular operation resumes.
Consider the restrooms. There are 32 for our guests (16 mens & 16 womens). That’s hundreds of fixtures, dispensers and thousands of square feet of flooring. Every single bit gets what we call “detail cleaned.” This involves steam cleaning and power scrubbing the floors. If it can be taken apart, it is; then cleaned and put back together. One team works on this five days a week, and when done, they move on to the team member restrooms. Another team begins the same process with every building, exhibit, restaurant and gift shop, to bring back the sparkle.
We also use special equipment (lifts of various kinds) to clean roofs, light fixtures and support structures throughout the park. But our largest challenge is the millions of square feet of asphalt and concrete in our stadiums, plazas and pathways that must be cleaned as well. We hose and pressure wash using 4,000 psi. steam units, scrub and scrape to get everything looking brand new again. As much water as possible used during this process is reclaimed, filtered and reused. Of course other departments are working just as hard to ready their areas for the coming season.
I am lucky to have a very dedicated team that has been with me for many years. They make it look easy. So, if anyone wonders aloud what goes on at SeaWorld when the park is closed, feel free to share our secret.
What a delight to hear back from our friend Sascha, the hero who shared a little of SeaWorld through “Operation Shamu Rocks Iraq.” He has safely returned to the United States from deployment in Iraq. He sent along this note and some photos of dropping our SeaWorld pencils and penguin plush from his helicopter to children in Iraq. We were thrilled to be a part of this great good will gesture.
Janet,
I returned stateside and am trying to settle back into regular life. My guys and I were very excited at the end of Ramadan (Muslim Holiday) to begin dropping bags again. It’s hard to tell but see my hand getting ready to drop a bag with one of the penguins you sent to me. Unfortunately it is rather difficult to get the picture and drop and fly at the same time. You can also see the many pencils you sent in one of the bags as it sits behind my head in the helicopter waiting for the right person. If you look close you can see the children chasing us and waving and the bag or bags in their hand. Thanks for your support. I hope to see Shamu (the plush one) one day again with another child if I ever go back to Iraq.
Students from Texas A&M at Galveston participated in a modified camp program for course credit.
On January 4, twenty-two students from Texas A&M University at Galvestonstarted an 11-day intercession course entitled “Introduction to Marine Biology: the SeaWorld Experience.” For the first five days of the class, students spend their day in the animal areas, working side-by-side with animal trainers and keepers.
After experiencing what it’s like to work at a zoological facility, the students participate in mock interviews with the zoological staff and choose to specialize for an additional three days in select animal areas. This allows for a more in-depth look into what it takes to work with animals at SeaWorld, and gives them real-life experience in interview situations for positions at the park.
Each afternoon after working in the areas, the students attend lecture courses from Texas A&M University at Galveston professors and graduate students to introduce concepts in marine biology as well as SeaWorld professions. These lectures cover topics such as research programs or conservation projects the team members have been a part of.
“The course provides our students with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience in a zoological park early in their academic careers when they are making decisions about degree plans. In addition to learning the fundamentals of marine conservation, our students acquire basic skills in animal husbandry and get the opportunity to work side-by-side with professionals in the fields of education, animal behavior and veterinary medicine. Many of our past students have gone on to successful careers in marine-based research and education, including positions at SeaWorld and other zoological parks.”
Although this is a special class offered through the university, our Adventure Camp programs offer high school and college students similar experiences throughout the year. For more information on our Adventure Camp, visit www.swbg-adventurecamps.com.
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Bar-B-Que Cook-Off is taking place at SeaWorld San Antonio this year! Wow, try saying that three times fast!
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo has been putting on the Bar-B-Que Cook-Off for 14 years and has raised over $96 million for the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Scholarship Fund. This event has become a huge attraction that requires the perfect venue. SeaWorld has just that and more with one of the largest parking lots in San Antonio, a great facility and a strong enthusiastic team to help make this event better than ever!
The planning for this event is a huge undertaking with over 250 teams in the competition and SeaWorld even has a team participating in the event. These cooks and teams really get into their barbecue!
The team members at SeaWorld are a proud bunch, and through our partnership with the Rodeo, wanted to give more by showing off the park. We decided to open the Main Entrance Plaza, a few gift shops, Dolphin Cove area (where guests can feed, observe and even touch a dolphin), Sharks/The Coral Reef, and Seaside Landing for Bar-B-Que Cook-Off visitors to enjoy. There may even be some random visits from various animals throughout the day.
Shamu mingles with a team participating in the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Bar-B-Que Cook-Off
That’s not all! There will be a concert held at the park’s Celebration Cove featuring Tracy Lawrence as the headliner. This is a great outdoor venue to see a concert and relax under the stars!
I personally plan on fasting for about a week before the event if the food we sampled recently is any indication of what is coming. I am ready to eat more, lots more! I hope to see you all here!
Don’t miss this great event on Saturday, January 30 from 10 a.m. to midnight. Admission for adults is $12. Children ages 12 and under are free. Active military are free with military ID. Pre-sale tickets are available for $8 at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo box office.
Wave TV is SeaWorld’s bi-weekly video feature program created for team members. Wave TV debuted in 2005 and was originally conceived to showcase park events for team members as they rode the shuttle bus to their workstation. Last year, this award-winning communications program moved to the SeaWorld YouTube channel; now everyone can share the program. Check out what’s new behind the scenes at SeaWorld San Antonio.
Consider the restrooms. There are 32 for our guests (16 mens & 16 womens). That’s hundreds of fixtures, dispensers and thousands of square feet of flooring. Every single bit gets what we call “detail cleaned.” This involves steam cleaning and power scrubbing the floors. If it can be taken apart, it is; then cleaned and put back together. One team works on this five days a week, and when done, they move on to the team member restrooms. Another team begins the same process with every building, exhibit, restaurant and gift shop, to bring back the sparkle.
Unfortunately it is rather difficult to get the picture and drop and fly at the same time. You can also see the many pencils you sent in one of the bags as it sits behind my head in the helicopter waiting for the right person. 
If you look close you can see the children chasing us and waving and the bag or bags in their hand. 
Thanks for your support. I hope to see Shamu (the plush one) one day again with another child if I ever go back to Iraq.
