Enjoying Sea World With The Family

Sea World is a fun and exciting place to visit. They offer so much more than I realized. There is so much you can learn there by the exhibits, the shows, the hands on areas that it surprised me. The first Sea World opened in San Diego, California on March 21, 1964.

I distinctly remember walking around one of the areas and just recall the flowers blooming, the music, the breeze, and the perfect Southern California temperatures. I remember thinking, I really like this place.

You can learn all kinds of things, like whales are not only related to dolphins, but all dolphins are whales. Not all whales are dolphins though. Did you know that Sperm whales can hold their breath from 20 minutes to an hour or more? Most other whales can hold their breath for 10 minutes to half an hour.

I also learned that whales and all marine mammals have a slower heart rate when diving. While diving, the blood is moved or shunted away from the tissues that are more tolerant of lower oxygen levels and it goes to the more critical organs where its needed most.

Did you know that the longest recorded blue whale was 110 feet, and the females are often bigger than the males?

We really enjoyed everything there, like the shark tunnel/bridge where you walked through an area where sharks were all around you. We enjoyed seeing polar bears and manatees, and getting to hold a starfish! The moray eels were very interesting, as well as sea lions and seals were a joy to observe as well.

We went up into the sky tower that was there. It shows a beautiful view of the San Diego skyline, and you can see very far on a clear day. Its very peaceful feeling, and something I would recommend.

If you ever get a chance to go to Sea World, I highly suggest you go. The life that goes on in an ocean will amaze you like it did me. In fact, sometimes I wonder at the future of Sea World, long term. There has been some news regarding legislation for instance, in California, about returning the killer whales to their natural habitat. I understand that view very much and have some of my own mixed feelings about animals in captivity that are healthy and safe enough to be out in the wild. That is another topic altogether however, and I think the value of children and adults learning about sea life is very valuable. My point in sharing that is that you never what the future holds, so if you care to go to Sea World, I would definitely make the effort to make that trip.

Below you will find the addresses and a map showing the three different locations in the United States. I have only ever been to the one in San Diego, and know it is wonderful. I am sure the other two are great as well.