A group of Lackland A.F.B. airmen visit with VIVA performers Chuck, Trevor, and Elizabeth after a show.
My job as an animal trainer is an awesome one for many reasons. Of course training and performing with beluga whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins is an obvious joy. But, sometimes the joy is in the people we get to meet and the connection we make with them. This weekend I had one of those moments when I met a group of guests who touched me.
During one of the VIVA shows I heard a group of people screaming and giving me shout outs of love. Was it my family or some old friends from high school? Nope. It was a group of young airmen who were stationed at Lackland Air Force Base for training. They were all in school studying to be Air Force police officers. In a few weeks they would all head out to their respective bases around the world to defend our country. Throughout the entire show they were excited, cheering, smiling, having a good time and enthusiastically showing it. We performers love guests like them. After the show I just had to meet these great people. After the introductions were over, I offered to take them backstage to meet some of the animals. For the next 20 minutes we toured the facility and had a great time. They were inspirational and fun. We chatted, took pictures and had a blast. They gave me the opportunity to do what I enjoy the most… meeting people and sharing the animals with them. It was the highlight of my weekend.
Active duty military members can get a complimentary single-day admission for themselves and up to three direct dependents to SeaWorld any time during the operating season by partaking in our Here’s to the Heroes campaign. Thousands have taken us up on our offer to spend a day at the park with their loved ones enjoying all the great attractions. Coming from a military family myself, it’s always a joy to look out into the crowd and see the defenders of our country and freedom enjoying the show.
So, here’s to my new heroes and friends, Airmen 1st Class Adam, Jeremy, Anthony, Josh and Matthew, and their lovely friends Brittany and Hannah. Thanks for coming to SeaWorld. Thanks for what you do for our country. And thanks for making my day.
I recently went on a fall media tour to Austin, TX. This is when we travel to specific cities and make visits to local television stations and pay a special visit to some pediatric patients. In addition to our normal rounds, we decided to change things up a little. We wanted to share a bit of SeaWorld with some of the Austin tweeple.
While planning the trip to Austin, an invite was sent out for a Family Tweetup through Twitter and other channels. The crew at the Waterloo Ice House Restaurant provided a great venue for our Animal Ambassadors to do a meet-and-greet. Click on the photo below to check out more pictures from the event.
Paige Newman, Nurra and myself at the Austin Family Tweetup
This was such a relaxing and fun event for our team as well as the “tweeple” and their families. We are putting together tweetups for our media tours to Houston and Dallas in the coming months. If you live in one of those cities we hope you will join us. More photos to come after we return from those trips!
September 24, 2009 by Kami Huyse • Comments Off Posted in Howl-O-Scream, WAVE TV
Jack is coming back
The makeover of SeaWorld San Antonio is almost complete.
Next Friday Jack will make his mysterious return during Howl-O-Scream, a month-long fest of frights and fun. And for our loyal readers we will confirm that Jack plans to show up almost anywhere – and he has a lot to say. Be on the lookout here and on our Facebook page.
You can read about all of the things we have planned in the official press release, but suffice it to say you will not be disappointed. There will be plenty to do for the kids all the way up to adults. Howl-O-Scream runs from Oct 2-31st, weekends only (Fri-Sun) and Columbus Day (12th).
Check out our most recent WAVE TV to see how our team is preparing, take a look at the costume shop and hear a little bit about our pumpkin breeding program.
September 23, 2009 by Kami Huyse • Comments Off Posted in Blog Team Profiles
One of the main purposes of this blog was to let you, our guests and potential guests, experience SeaWorld from the inside out. We hope by participating in social media and with all of you on this blog, in our Facebook community, our YouTube channel, our Flickr photo stream and on Twitter, that when you do visit us you will feel a little bit like family. That is really the way that the team at SeaWorld feels about our guests.
From the very start we have used the voices of our team members, rather than just that of marketing and public relations, to bring you the real flavor of the park. As such we have a pretty big blog team. They come from a huge cross-section of functions across the park. Today we want to introduce you to four of these bloggers, but you can meet them all on our about page.
Dwight Driskill
Dwight takes care of the park’s Web site and works directly with our hotel partners to create vacation packages. He also manages our call center. He also has a great sense of humor. You can read more about him and his blogging philosophy on his profile.
Toni Davila
Toni is our rides manager and is in charge of making sure all of our rides are safe, fun and staffed by awesome people. As you can imagine, Toni is a pretty adventurous person. You can learn more about Toni and and her blogging philosophy at her profile.
Moni Villanueva
Moni is the assistant supervisor in the Training Center but she can be found all around the park. During the Howl-O-Scream season she has brought us behind-the-scenes as a member of the scare team and she is our roving WAVE 360 reporter, brining you fun video reports. You can check out Moni and and her blogging philosophy on her profile page.
Traci Lewand
Traci is our operations manager and oversees training and team member relations. She also can give great shopping tips. You can read more about Traci and and her blogging philosophy on her profile.
SeaWorld will use cans from food drive to form whale tail
Hunger Action Month…….From the inside looking out, SeaWorld is always giving back to the community in one way or another and this time we are being enlisted in another fun and exciting effort. Whether you are an employee, a pass member or a one time visitor you can help during the month of September.
Employees can drop off cans at Security on your way to work. Pass members will be able to drop canned food items in barrels located by each SeaWorld ticket booth on your next visit. One time visitors who bring a minimum of ten cans to the front gate on one of our operating days in September will receive $15 off of a one day ticket for up to six people. Don’t forget we have two more concerts scheduled for this month, so that is a GREAT time to remember the hungry in San Antonio and bring a 15 oz. can.
Before the cans are actually donated to the San Antonio Food Bank we will have a little fun by creating a flat structure in the shape of a whale tail. We have ordered thousands of various colored lids to help “color” the cans as they are placed into the can “sculpture.” We will end up with a great image of a black and white whale tale in a sea of blue water.
The key is to bring canned foods that are about 15 oz in weight/size to make the structure work.
It has been said “….give a little to feed a lot.” So let’s all do our part.
We will be taking pictures of the whale tail as it grows and adding them to this Flickr Slideshow.
These Howl-O-Scream team members are learning how to give a good scare.
Howl-O-Scream Orientation. Need I say more?
Okay, you win, I will.
Howl-O-Scream Orientation was held on Friday, September 11th, and was one of the most entertaining orientations I have attended thus far. Over 70 team members that will be working all over the park in different roles and scare zones were put into one room for a very enlightening, slightly comedic, and totally scary information session. Stage managers introduced themselves with their areas of responsibility, guidelines for all actors were given, and also included was a frightful video outlining the key steps to the perfect scare.
To finish off the evening, we were led on a tour of the different scare zone areas…in the DARK! It was a blast; the energy level from the group was amazing!
Costume fitting and makeup training was held on Sunday, and that was fascinating…to say the least. Everyone was given their costume (mostly comprising of dresses for the females and suits for the males) and modeled them as the production supervisor gave instructions to the costume designer staff. I heard instructions like, “be sure to tear it up on the bottom”, and “you could add some guts along the neck and shoulders”.
Each group also had the opportunity to learn the finer points of making the best dirty and decaying face with the use of makeup, fake skin, and of course, maggots. Some brave volunteers even made the transformation from living to dreadfully dead and decaying.
Howl-O-Scream team member is remade into a zombie
All in all, it was an amazing experience. Can’t wait to get out there and put my newly gained knowledge to use.
Kelly Morales at Dolphin Cove before she goes to Greece to study bottlenose dolphins.
In an earlier post, I mentioned the fall was a time for us to relax and take vacation. Well, one of my co-workers, Education & Conservation Department Manager Kelly Morales, is preparing for a trip, but it definitely won’t be a vacation.
Kelly, along with another SeaWorld San Antonio team member, Cristina Berg, was chosen to participate in an Earthwatch project this fall. The Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization that offers volunteers the opportunity to join research teams around the world and help bring science to life. The SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund partners with the Earthwatch Institute to fund several projects. Due to this partnership, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks have been able to send representatives on projects related to their field. Just from SeaWorld San Antonio, our employees have spent time studying lemurs in Madagascar and African penguins in South Africa.
Cristina, an Animal Care Specialist, just returned from a week-long trip to Canada where she monitored movements of grey whales off the coast of Vancouver Island. We hope to get a trip report up soon.
Kelly is scheduled to leave tomorrow and travel to Greece, where she will spend two weeks assisting in a population study of bottlenose dolphins in the Amvrakikos Gulf. I spoke with Kelly before she left to find out more.
How were you able to get this opportunity?
The application process includes writing essays about not only why you want to participate and how you will share your experience once you return, but also your thoughts about how SeaWorld & Busch Gardens can continue to play a role in conservation practices, wildlife care, and environmental education. Essays are reviewed by members of the Earthwatch organization, and team members are selected and placed on project teams that most fit with the work they do in the parks.
What are you most excited about?
I have always wanted to visit Greece, and I am looking forward to doing it as more than a tourist. I can’t wait to meet the other members of the research team, and it is going to be so surreal to actually be out there on that boat tracking dolphins on the other side of the world. I can’t wait!
What do you think you’ll be able to bring back with you that will help you as a member of the Education & Conservation Department at SeaWorld?
After listening to the experiences of the other team members who have gone on expeditions, I really did care a lot about the animals and habitats they were able to experience, and it inspired me to want to go and make a difference myself. Even though I don’t work with animals every day, I believe that our work in the Education & Conservation Department here at SeaWorld San Antonio encourages our campers, school visitors, and guests to care even more about the natural world, and helps them to remember that even the smallest things like recycling, reducing waste, and being responsible pet owners can make such an impact in conservation. I hope that when I come home, the stories and experiences I bring back will motivate the next person to participate because they want to make a difference too.
I wish Kelly safe traveling and I’ll post some pictures of her trip once she returns.
Senior Trainer, Kristie Lacy, teaching Beethoven to touch a target
The end of summer means weekend-only operation for SeaWorld. Every year at this time people ask, “Now that you don’t have shows, what do you do?” Well my friends, rest assured that the off-season is often just as busy if not busier than the summer season for an animal trainer. We have plenty of projects to keep us busy.
At the Beluga Stadium, one of our big off-season projects is Beethoven. Remember him? He was the first beluga born at our park back in 1992 and he just returned in June. Over the past three months he has done remarkably well. He has successfully been acclimated with the rest of the beluga family, including Bella the baby. We’re really excited because Beethoven is now learning to participate in our Beluga Interaction Program. Select guests have had the opportunity to get to meet him up close and he is responding very well to the attention. He is proving to be a gentle and sweet whale who seldom tussles with the others and is eager to learn. We love having him here.
Aside from the Beethoven project, one thing that has happened this fall season is the annual shifting of trainers between stadiums. Each year at this time we give some trainers the opportunity to work at other stadiums within the park. This proves very beneficial to a trainer’s career because it not only gives them experience working with other animals, but just as important, it gives them experience working with other team members. I will go so far as to say that many of our standout trainers have spent time at all of our animal training areas. Good luck to Darcy, Tiffany, Jeremy, Chaz , Ann, Slade, Catherine, Greg, Tricia, Scott, and Todd as they begin the next chapter in their animal training careers.
Other off-season projects for members of the Animal Training staff include training new show behaviors (look for some exciting changes to the VIVA! show in 2010! More on that in future posts), teaching trainers new show roles, serving on various park committees, as well as taking care of the many administrative duties of our job. We’ll be very busy during the weekdays, but we look forward to seeing our guests on weekends.
The Seal and Sea Lion exhibit is a must see part of your day at SeaWorld. Not only can you see up close California sea lions and harbor seals, but you also have the opportunity to feed them.
When guests are visiting the exhibit one of the most popular questions they ask is, “Why do those big sea lions have a number on their back?” These three male California sea lions came to us from the Bonneville Dam in Washington with an interesting story.
They were three of many male sea lions that had discovered the salmon and sturgeon near the dam. The animals would swim up the river and eat large numbers of the fish, some of which were the endangered Chinook salmon.
The sea lions were not native to the area, but had discovered the easy fishing. They would swim up the river to eat fish and fatten up before returning to the beaches for the breeding season. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Agency as well as government officials were monitoring the movements of the animals and in order to easily identify the individuals from a distance each sea lion was branded with a number.
All three of the males that now reside here at SeaWorld were repeat offenders, returning year after year to feast on the fish. In an effort to help the fish populations the animals were caught and relocated in the hopes that they would not return to the dam.
Unfortunately, they found their way back and resumed feeding. In a last effort to save the sea lions, Fish and Wildlife sent out word that any marine park or aquarium with proper facilities could give some of the sea lions a new home. Bogart, Tacoma and Chinook arrived at SeaWorld San Antonio on April 30, 2008 and spent a few months acclimating to their new environment before joining our sea lion population in the Seal and Sea Lion Community Pool.
They have now resided in our large community pool for almost a full year, and Bogart has made himself the master of the exhibit. It wasn’t too difficult when you consider he weighs at least 400 more pounds than any other animal out there. And so, don’t forget to stop by and say hello to our large friends from Washington when you next visit the park. It’s easy to find the Seal and Sea Lion Community Pool, just listen for Bogart announcing his presence to the world.
Just wanted to say Hi and Thank You to our annual pass members who made it out to one or both of the last two events. Annual Pass Members get special discounts and free parking, among other benefits. Occasionally we also hold special events like the ones in August.
The Aug. 19, Wild, Wet, Wednesday event turned out to be a great evening and was well received by those who were able to make it out. Because it was open to annual pass members only, there were no crowds in the pools, lazy river and virtually no lines for any of the slides. Many pass members saw this as a perfect opportunity to take some great family photos as well as of their kids coming down slides or just playing in the water. I wonder if we should offer exclusive waterpark time again in 2010? Check out the fun in the Flickr photo set.
The PassMember Advantages event on Aug. 30 was also a success. Pass members really like spinning the wheel to find out what they have won, especially the kids. This time the big prize was a $20 Lowe’s gift card and it looks like the gift card will again be the big prize at our next event on Nov. 15.
Pass members spin the wheel for a chance to win big!
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.
