Archive for the ‘Features’ Category
June 2, 2010 by Brian Carter • 3 Comments »
Posted in Around the Park, Events, Uncategorized
 Last Friday SeaWorld San Antonio launched an interactive, online game that is designed to put our biggest fans on San Antonio billboards.
Have you been the park lately and taken photos of your family? Then you can play the game now! Upload your photos on seaworldfansearch.com, then click the “Share” button with friends and family so they can vote. Pictures with the most votes will be turned into billboards around the city.
And we’ve made uploading your photos easy. You can submit the old-fashioned way by visiting the site and browsing your computer’s hard drive for images. Or, you can connect the game to your Facebook account use photos that you’ve already uploaded to your account.
The game is free to play and you can submit as many photos as you like. And if you haven’t visited SeaWorld San Antonio lately, be sure to bring your camera so you’ll have a chance to play along.
Ready to dive in? Learn how to playor start playing today.
May 20, 2010 by ToniDavila • 3 Comments »
Posted in Around the Park, Children, Coaster Connections
If you’ve been to SeaWorld San Antonio recently, there’s a pretty good chance you came in contact with a very large construction fence in the Happy Harbor area. There’s also a good chance that you noticed a few things missing…perhaps a few of your favorite kiddie rides?
 Pete's Pinwheel in it's new location Well, you’re not alone. We’ve had a lot of questions regarding the whereabouts of Pete’s Pinwheel and Jumpin’ Jungle and if they’re coming back for all of our littlest SeaWorld guests to enjoy. Luckily, I have good news for you! Both of these great rides will be making their grand re-appearance this weekend on May 22nd!
Why were they gone you ask? Well, our Happy Harbor area is currently undergoing some maintenance and rehabilitation and during this time, we conducted the annual inspections for Pete’s Pinwheel and Jumpin’ Jungle as well as created the new locations for these rides. They are still in Happy Harbor, but have been relocated right in front of SeaStar Market, making them more accessible. The new locations have shaded queue lines, perfect for those hot Texas summer days.
 New play area in Happy Harbor If this isn’t enough to get the kiddos excited about a visit to SeaWorld, we’ve also added a brand new play area right next to Happy Harbor! This area is designed for children ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. It incorporates tunnels, slides, interactive and climbing elements.
And the best part? It’s located in a shady area surrounded by tables, perfect for a little rest for mom and dad during a busy afternoon at the park.
We are all very excited to have these rides ready, and are looking forward to creating wonderful new memories with all of our guests.
Hope to see you around the park!
May 19, 2010 by ChuckCureau • 6 Comments »
Posted in Around the Park, SWSA Insider, animals
As members of the Animal Training department we are fortunate to perform in shows and host animal interaction programs. These duties are obvious but there are some not so obvious things about our career that most would find interesting. I hereby present to you…
Little Known Facts about Being on the Animal Training Team at SeaWorld San Antonio
The most important type of training that we do is called husbandry. It is the science of training animals to cooperate with us to that we can give them excellent care. Husbandry behaviors include voluntarily allowing us to withdraw blood samples, perform sonograms, and collect bodily fluids.
 Katie gets a fluke present from Sikku. From this position we can collect blood, urine, or even milk. Although many think that we have college backgrounds in marine biology, most trainers studied psychology in college. One aspect of psychology is behavior modification and it’s those principles that we use when training animals.
The people who perform in the shows are the same people who train the animals. There are not separate training and performing staffs. Animal trainers do it all! Before each show we have a meeting to discuss show roles, animals, behavioral goals, and troubleshoot and plan for challenges.
We spend a lot of time with fish and even after multiple showers and repeated hand washings we still smell like the capelin, herring, squid, and salmon that we feed to our animals. Occasionally we’ll even find a scale stuck to us hours after leaving work!
 Jason prepares several pounds of herring to be fed to the belugas in the Beluga Interaction Program. On the average, it takes an animal about two years to perform all roles in a show. In contrast, it usually takes a trainer three years to begin performing the most basic roles in a show. Realize that when you watch us in a show, what we do is not as easy as it looks. For every successful sea lion dance or beluga ballet there are many that are less than graceful and many are downright hilarious. Practice makes perfect though and we spend a lot of time practicing. (I wish you could see some of our rehearsal footage. You would be ROFL!)
At any given time we are surrounded by a collective 60 to 150 years of animal training experience. This makes our jobs much more accessible to professional collaboration. Our oldest animal trainer is in his 50s with over 30 years experience in the field and our youngest is 19 and still in college.
 "Old man" Joe mentors Jenny on the finer points of training animals. All trainers must pass a rigorous swim test demonstrating freestyle swimming, a difficult underwater breath hold test, and be able to swim to the bottom of the beluga pool which is 25 feet deep. (BTW… “Old man” Joe is one of the most fit people in the department. He does better on the swim test than some of the trainers half his age. Way to go, Joe!)
Working with the animals accounts for only a small portion of our work day. We’re also busy serving on various park committees, doing computer work, and tons of cleaning. We not only clean fish buckets and pools, but our toilets and shower facilities as well!
It’s a small price to pay for having such a wonderful career.
Editors Note: Read more about the benefits of animal training on SeaWorld.org
May 17, 2010 by NickIreland • 1 Comment »
Posted in Around the Park, animals
Our newest aquarium exhibit, at Sharks/The Coral Reef has recently been opened with some amazing creatures that inhabit sea grass environments. The aquarium features several unique species of fish and invertebrates.
Sea grass communities are home to small, delicate species and often serve as a haven for juvenile fish before they make the journey into the open sea. The sea grass itself can also be food to many larger species of marine animals.
 Banggai Cardinalfish inhabit sea grass beds in Indonesia. Our sea grass exhibit features Banggai Cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, a beautiful black and white species that can only be found in a remote part of Indonesia. You’ll see them hovering still in the water column in a small school. Also, don’t miss the Shrimpfish, Aeoliscus strigatus. You may need to look hard for these, they don’t much look like a fish at all at first glance. Shrimpfish avoid predators by camouflaging themselves around the tall sea grass. They actually swim in a vertical position with the head down.
 Even though it doesn't look the part, this is a fish. Don’t miss some of the fascinating invertebrates (animals without a backbone) featured in the exhibit, such as shrimp, sea cucumbers, and hermit crabs. One of the really cool shrimp is the Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, which gets the skunk portion of its name from the white stripe on its back. They are called cleaner shrimp because of the service they provide to other animals.
Cleaner shrimp can occupy many different habitats and fish will recognize that they are not food and allow the shrimp to pick parasites and dead skin off the fish. The fish will even let the shrimp clean the fish’s mouth out. This not only helps the fish remain clean and healthy, but also provides the shrimp with a snack. You may even be lucky enough to see this behavior in our exhibit.
 Like a fish car wash, the Skunk Cleaner Shrimp runs a "cleaning station". So, next time you stop by the aquarium at SeaWorld San Antonio, don’t miss out on the fascinating creatures that call the sea grass beds home.
May 5, 2010 by KellyMorales • 1 Comment »
Posted in Animal Ambassador, Meet My Friend..., Uncategorized, animals, conservation
 Meet Chloe the barred owl at the Animal Connections Center This week we would like to introduce you to Chloe the barred owl. Chloe came to us from our sister park, Discovery Cove.
Chloe was originally found in a school yard eating from students during lunch. She would land on edge of the tables and wait for food. Because of this behavior, the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Orlando felt she was probably a pet that had escaped or been released and they collected her.
It was believed that Chloe had imprinted on humans. Soon after many animals are born, they imprint on their caretakers. Imprinting is a critical behavior that establishes a bond between young animals and their parents. If an animal, such as an owl chick, is cared for and raised by humans at a very young age, it will no longer recognize itself as an owl, and will continue to seek socialization from humans. A bird of prey with this behavior is considered non-releasable because their feeding behaviors are not safe in their natural environment. As a result, Chloe found a home at Discovery Cove.
Barred Owls like Chloe are medium-sized, gray-brown, and they are streaked with white side-to-side barring on the chest and up-and-down barring on the belly. Their eyes are brown, and the beak is yellow and almost covered by feathers. They have a long tail, and there are no differences in coloration between males and females.
Owls are nocturnal hunters, and prey mostly on small rodents. Most owls have unique, comb-like feathers that allow for silent flight. The leading edge is “fringed” so that the feathers, when moving, do not make noise when rubbing together. It is rare for the prey to hear an owl swooping in.
Owls have excellent vision. Their eyes look forward in a fixed position and cannot move from side to side, as the human eye can. In order to see peripherally, the owl must turn its entire head. It is a myth that owls can turn their head all the way around. Owls have 14 neck vertebrae, allowing them to move their head 270 degrees.
Although these birds have excellent eyesight, they are also capable of catching prey using only their sense of hearing. Owl ears are located one higher than the other, increasing sound reception. During flight, the left ear captures sounds below while the right ear focuses on sounds from above. In addition, their face feathers create a disc, which works to trap and focus sound.
 Chloe's face feathers create a disc that trap and focus sound As predators, owls play an important role in the environment by controlling small animal populations. Because mammals are a primary prey item, this can be especially beneficial to humans, reducing the amount of food lost each year to rodents.
If you would like to visit with Chloe, or maybe even take a photo with her, you can meet her at the Animal Connections Conservation Center along with our other Animal Ambassadors. For information about other birds of prey species, visit this link on our ANIMALS website.
May 4, 2010 by GeoffBaldwin • 3 Comments »
Posted in Around the Park, Uncategorized
I have worked at SeaWorld for over 30 years and the majority of that time I have been involved with rest rooms. In the early years, I helped clean them, later supervising the cleaning crew while still staying hands-on and finally today I oversee the cleaning and design of he restrooms at SeaWorld San Antonio.
It took awhile, but my wife has finally gotten used to me coming back from visiting a rest room while out to dinner and sharing my discoveries of a new kind of dispenser or a really cool fixture of some kind.
I also am always quick to discuss how clean or dirty it is, but I don’t get real descriptive with the latter.
The truth is, rest rooms, how they look, smell and work is very important to my job. I have a great job at the best marine life park in the world, but no matter how great it is, if the one thing our guests remember is a dirty, smelly rest room it takes away from the experience we hope to provide.
It starts at midnight with the Night Park Quality team, they go through the all rest rooms top to bottom to make sure they are not just clean, but sanitized and they also make sure everything works. Then there is a smaller detail team that only does one or two rest rooms each night, taking extra time to deep clean floors, walls, light fixtures, etc. with heavier power equipment and chemicals.
Once the park opens, the Day Park Quality team takes over, they are responsible for keeping things stocked (running out of paper is a bad thing) and doing their best to keep all 32 men’s and women’s restrooms as clean as possible.
 This can be a major challenge on a Saturday in July, when the crowd from Shamu Theater rushes over after the show.
Rest rooms are a big deal with me and my team.
Even though I can’t get all the latest toys, the hand dryer that vacuums water off your hands are awesome and I am still waiting for an automatic toilet tissue dispenser, but the dedicated team I have makes all the difference.
As you get soaked by Shamu or become a little green after riding the Great White inverted coaster, you can be at ease knowing there is a dedicated team day and night working to make sure the next rest room you visit for whatever reason is ready.
Got to go “burning daylight!”
Geoff Baldwin
April 30, 2010 by AnnaLisaAguirre • Comments Off
Posted in Earth Day Every Day, conservation
 Flower beds in the entrance to Lost Lagoon Our Landscaping team does an amazing job of keeping our landscaped areas looking immaculate! But have you ever wonder what happens to the plant material that is changed in our landscaped beds? One of the tasks of the Landscaping team is changing out our plant material with plants that will thrive with our climate. So what happens to the old stuff? We take it to a large container and it is taken to a composting facility. In the month of March 2010 alone, SeaWorld San Antonio was able to compost over 800 cubic yards of plant material.
Through the process of composting, plant remains and various other organic materials decompose and create a wonderfully enriched substance that can be reused in plants and gardens. Composting greatly assists with the reduction of wastes that would otherwise be sent to a landfill.
By composting at SeaWorld, we are saving valuable space in our landfill. Used plant materials are composted and help with nutrient availability and decrease watering needs of plants. There are numerous other benefits to composting too.
 Compostable material from landscaping For those of you thinking about composting at your homes, check out HowToCompost.org or your local hardware store may even have information on how to create your own compost bin.
Some items that you may have at home that are compostable include: cardboard rolls from paper towels or toilet paper, coffee grounds and filters, eggshells, fruit and vegetables, grass and yard clippings, leaves, houseplants, tea bags, and nut shells.
Things to keep out of your compost pile:
• Dairy products – can create odor problems and attract unwanted pests
• Pet wastes – may contain parasites, bacteria or pathogens and viruses that are harmful to humans
• Insect-ridden plants – the insects may survive through the compost process and transfer into the other plant material
As we celebrate Earth Month, let’s see what we can do to make a difference in our world.
April 9, 2010 by Tim Morrow • 3 Comments »
Posted in Around the Park, SWSA Insider
One of the best things about coming to SeaWorld San Antonio is that there is always something new in the park. We are a living park, and people who buy Annual Passes know there is always something different to see or do.
One of the things that we do is invite music artists to perform concerts in the park at our many festivals. We have our Bands Brew and BBQ; Praise Wave; and Viva La Musica series, for starters. These concerts are FREE to those who have a ticket or pass for the park. However, due to space constraints in our Nautilus Amphitheater (the location where we usually hold such concerts), we require people to get a wristband to get a seat inside the theater.
 Lots of people want to know how to get a wristband. So here are our tips:
1. Arrive early, the park opens at 10:00 and the wristbands are available starting at 10:00 a.m.
2. The wristbands are issued at the Nautilus Theater, people usually line up to get them. Early on we will be distributing wristbands at a tent named “Wristbands.”
3. Everyone who will attend the concert must be present to get a wristband, we will only put them on an actual person! Once they are gone that means our concert is full!
4. After you get your wristband, enjoy your day at SeaWorld until concert time!
5. Nautilus Amphitheater is an open seating venue. This means when you get inside you can pick your seat where ever you want or stand right down front near the stage. Lots of guests like to dance at the back of the theater as well! We open the theater one hour prior to the show for general wristbands to allow everyone to get in and choose their seat prior to the show.
6. One of the best ways to enjoy a stress free day is to purchase a VIP Package for the concert. You can do this ahead of time online or over the phone, or you can purchase your package the day of the concert as availability allows. Purchasing this ahead of time assures you a wristband without having to get to the park early, is sold at a lower price than day of, AND it includes a great meal at the park. You simply show up to the festival area to pick up your order! The VIP wristband gets you into the venue before any of the general wristbands too, which gives you your choice of a place to stand or sit. During the early entry process we recommend you stand at the stage or sit halfway up the seating area as the entire bottom section usually fills as standing/dancing room.
As our concerts and festivals grow and become more popular these insider tips will help you make the most of your day here at SeaWorld San Antonio!
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