Sea World Orlando Florida - A Tour Of The Attraction

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Jeb Maxwell


Sea World Orlando Water Park is central Florida's premier marine life park, accepting visitors year around and presenting its guests with an sea wildlife experience that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Theatrical Performances

Shamu, the killer whale, performs in the Shamu Stadium in Sea World's signature performance called "Believe". This show features a choreographed demonstration of music, video, stunts, and splashing whales, to deliver one of the most unforgettable performances you will have the pleasure of viewing in this lifetime.

Also at Sea World Orlando is the Cirque-du-Soleil-style show called Blue Horizons. Blue Horizons is a show that integrates the performance of trained dolphins and birds, enabling visitors to enjoy the beauty of nature and the theatrics of the choreographed animal performances.

Exhibitions

My favorite Sea World Orlando treat is the acrylic tube walkway through and under the giant shark tank, called the Shark Encounter. The opportunity to see a wide variety of fish species up close and personal in their own habitat is a thrill to those of us who never took up snorkeling.

The exhibit begins at the Sharks Underwater Grill, a sit-down restaurant, which features windows looking into the huge fish tanks above and beside the restaurant. If you are traveling without children, you will find that if you are willing to sit in the restaurant bar, then you can frequently bypass the lines of families waiting for a table. In the restaurant bar, you can order a drink, and you may order from the full restaurant menu as well.

If you have never been to Sea World Orlando, you might be surprised to learn that you will see more species of fish than just sharks.

As you enter the acrylic tunnel, you will find an artificial reef built into the display, and in the first tank, you will be able to view moray eels swimming with a wide variety of reef fish, in and around the artificial reef that has been designed to mimic the natural habitat known to these fish.

As you progress down the tunnel, you will see a number of fish tanks separated from the others, each with their own habitat and species of fish.

In the various tanks, you can see:

The Camouflaged Lion Fish - The feathery appendages of the camouflaged lion fish are actually poisonous spines that can inflict great pain on any swimmer that actually touches its spines.

Fugu is also known as the Puffer Fish - If you have ever seen Spongebob Squarepants, Spongebob's driving instructor is a Puffer Fish - Ms. Puff. The Puffer Fish is considered to be one of the world's most poisonous fish and accounts for several human deaths each year. The Japanese consider its edible portions to be a delicacy, and Fugu Chefs must be licensed in Japan in order to prepare this fish for eating. The Fugu Chef must be trained to separate the poison glands from the meat of the fish, but mistakes are sometimes made, and people die from Fugu poisoning after ingesting this fish.

Surgeon Fish - Surgeon Fish swim in the same tank as the Puffer Fish (Fugu). Although beautiful, the Surgeon Fish carries a secret weapon, in the form of fins near its tail that are extremely sharp to the touch. If a person or other creature grabs the Surgeon Fish, it will whip its tail violently, often inflicting a deep cut on the person or animal that crossed its path.

Barracuda - In a nearby tank, one can see Barracuda up close and personal. Although the Barracuda has a fierce reputation, it seldom attacks humans swimming in its midst.

Sharks, and more Sharks - When you finally reach the main feature, you will be in a room at the bottom of the shark tank. The room is insulated by a one-foot thick panel of acrylic that offers solid protection from the 450-tons of man-made salt water overhead. In the main tank, you will see small brown sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks, nurse sharks, sandpiper sharks, and sawtooth sharks.

Even more Sharks - On the way out of the exhibit, near the restaurant, there is one more shark tank that is quite a bit smaller than the main exhibit. In this second shark tank, you will be able to see small hammerhead sharks and nurse sharks, as well as a variety of rays, which includes the jet-black bat ray.

Additional Sea World Orlando Highlights

On my last visit, I personally received more pleasure from the Shark Encounter than any portion of the park. But when it came to what the kids enjoyed, they found the greatest pleasure in the following three attractions:

Stingray Lagoon - There is a reason why so many people were shocked to hear of the death of naturalist Steve Irwin, as the result of a Stingray piercing his heart. Stingrays are known to be one of the most docile creatures in the oceans of the earth. When Steve Irwin was stung by the ray, it was a freak accident. In fact, there were only 18 deaths as the result of Stingray / human contact in recorded history. Although the Stingray carries a barb in its tail, most incidents related to the tail of a Stingray, were the result of someone accidentally touching its tail, as is theorized to have happened in the Steve Irwin incident. At Stingray Lagoon, visitors can reach into the pool and pet the Stingray as it swims by. Just don't reach for the tail. ;-) Sea World animal care experts oversee the Stingray Lagoon, where the adults swim, and they also oversea the shallow pool where Stingray pups swim.

Dolphin Cove - At Dolphin Cove, visitors can enter the water with the Dolphins, pet them and feed them, under the supervision of Sea World caregivers.

Penguin Encounter - At Penguin Encounter, it can be a chilling experience as the air temperature is maintained at a steady 30 degrees and the water temp is kept at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This exhibit is designed to mimic life in Antarctica, complete with 6,000 pounds of snow falling everyday, in the heart of Florida. The Penguins are so accustomed to the human visitors that they spend their days playing on the snow and swimming through the water. The Penguin Encounter enables visitors to watch Penguins in a habitat where they enjoy life as only a Penguin could enjoy life: waddling, running, falling, sliding and swimming. Okay. I enjoyed this exhibit almost as much as I enjoyed the Shark Experience, but don't tell my kids that I said that. ;-) They will think I am getting soft in my old age.

Final Thoughts

Sea World Orlando is on the southwest side of Orlando Florida, just to the northeast of Walt Disney World. You can reach Sea World Orlando by traveling east from I-4 on Central Florida Parkway.

Although open year-around, Sea World Orlando has different operating hours for different times of the year. You can check their schedule on the Sea World website.

When visiting Orlando Florida to see the many attractions, it is easy to assume the easiest accommodations to be one of the many hotel chains that operate in and around Orlando FL. But once you have taken the time to research the vacation home rentals available in the Orlando FL area, you might just realize as I have done that vacation rentals make so much more sense for the traveling family.

If you go the hotel route, you will be stuck in a small room and have to take all of your meals at a restaurant. However, if you choose the vacation home route, you will often find that you can stay in a large, beautiful home, often with a swimming pool or hot tub, and always with a full kitchen with dishes and cookware.

Once I started going the vacation rental route, I found that the money I saved by not taking all of our meals in restaurants enabled us to be able to get into much nicer vacation homes for about the same amount of money as I would have spent on the hotel and food.


About the Author:
This article was originally published with links and photos on the American Travel Ideas website.

Jeb Maxwell writes about travel, vacation homes and the Bed and Breakfast industry. To explore additional information about vacation home rentals, visit: http://www.findvacationrentals.com

Bear Attacks - Guidelines For Those Of You Hiking Or Camping In Our Wilderness

Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2009 Jane Baker


There seems to be a significant increase in both grizzly and black bear attacks the last couple of years. Not long ago a man in his sixties was attacked by a black bear near Winnipeg, Manitoba while picking plums. Residents there said there had been a number of bears around and there was a serious shortage of food for them. Competition for food may have provoked the attack. On the same weekend, an experienced hiker, a woman, was killed in Banff National Park by a grizzly and it resulted in trail closures in the area for some time.

A woman and her father from California were attacked in Glacier National Park by a grizzly sow with cubs. In an attempt to escape the bear, both tumbled over a small cliff and sustained injuries both from the bear and the fall. Pictures shown on the news showed that the man had sustained serious injuries that included scalping by the bear. The same happened this week to a boy that ran into a bear near Burns Lake northwest of Prince George while walking with a friend and his dog. It was a surprise close range encounter and the boy apparently was picked up by his head and thrown by the bear. He sustained scalp injuries and a broken leg while his friend ran for help. The boy's father said they commonly see bears around their ranch but this is the first time an incident in meeting a bear has been this serious. Another very serious attack occurred just recently in the States where the man received grievous injury to his head and bite marks on his body.

What has caused such an unusual number of attacks by both grizzlies and black bears lately? Bears rely heavily on plentiful and calorie rich feed to build up fat reserves for winter hibernation. A bear with insufficient reserves will die or be forced to exit their den in mid winter or early spring in search of food that will be hard to find that time of year. An interruption in their hibernation cycle could also result in their death.

The voracious hunt for food in the fall is a deep seated instinct and competition for food sources, even with humans, can result in attack on anything perceived to be a competitor. Unusual weather cycles or drought can seriously deplete normally bountiful food sources. The other cause can be a sow protecting her cubs, especially first year cubs. These two types, the rogue bear and the sow, are joined by a third type. This is a predator bear. One that is unable to eat or find food because of aged teeth, degraded eyesight or an injury impairing its ability to search out the food it needs or one that has simply found humans to be easy targets.

SURVIVING BEARS - Avoidance and survival of attack by the first of the three types of bear:

It's the opinion of many of those that study bears, that attacks on humans are led by three different types of bear regardless whether they are grizzly or black bear. And as such, we should all use different modes of protecting ourselves for maximum survival in case of an attack.

Although I don't have figures, I think the majority of attacks on humans are by sows with cubs either where the person got between a bear and her cubs unintentionally or came on them suddenly and surprised the sow. A sow is always ready to go on the offensive to protect her cubs because it is not uncommon for a boar or male bear to kill them. She must be strong, mean, fast and take the offensive quickly in order to take her opponent; hence the lightning quick attack that occurs on humans more often than not.

Authorities on the subject say this is one of those occasions where you should back up as fast as you can away from the cubs, run in the other direction as quickly as possible, especially if the cubs are quite young, or in the worst case scenario, roll up in a ball, protect your extremities and head and be as non threatening as possible when attacked.

It is thought that a mother bear has only one motive in attacking a human when she has young cubs and that is to drive the threat away. As soon as that is accomplished, she will take them and leave. The rare exception to this rule, and it is very rare, has been when a sow chooses to teach full-grown cubs how to hunt domestic animals or humans. However, now you are talking about a predator bear that just happens to be a mom as well and since there is more than one animal involved, the most dangerous threat of all.

Even a small single black bear sow such as the one in the picture on the right http://www.resortsbc.com/Wilderness-AdventuresSep3.html with her tiny cub can be deadly. I took a picture of her in Tweedsmuir Park along Highway 20 in the Bella Coola Valley where she and her cub were feeding on berries along the road. She crossed the road in front of us after tiring of the berry supply on one side and proceeded to chow down on the other with no fear of us at all. She must have been bred quite young because although she was in good shape, she wasn't much bigger than a large dog. Yet she could kill a human in a flash! What could set her off and make her so dangerous?

No fear of humans.

She's going into winter so she's desperate to get as much high calorie food into her as possible in order to survive hibernation.

She has a first year cub with her.

Chances are that most of the time she would just run if she felt threatened, but there is no way I would want to be caught between her and her cub, even as small as she is. I definitely would not want to be caught between that grizzly sow and her two cubs in the picture to your right. http://www.resortsbc.com/Wilderness-AdventuresSep3.html The best bet when dealing with the possibility of running into a sow and cubs is to make lots of noise warning her that you are in the area by either whistling, singing or wearing a bell on your shoes.

If you can't make noise, such as when you are hunting, stay very aware of your surroundings making sure to look around to the sides, look ahead and up trees for any possibility of cubs. Caution and constant awareness is always recommended in bear country, even if that happens to be in your own pasture or back yard, and it never hurts to carry a can of bear spray in the woods or firecrackers near salmon rivers. I will cover the rogue bear and predator bear, how to spot them, and suggested ways to defend yourself against them, in the next four articles.


About the Author:
Jane Baker writes daily articles about the remote Chilcotin area in west central British Columbia, Canada. Surrounded by numerous glacial mountain ranges, alpine lakes teeming with wild Rainbow Trout, and full of wildlife, living here goes from no running water or electricity to spacious log homes with all the conveniences and without the smog! To learn more about vacationing here check out http://www.resortsbc.com/index.html

All five bear attack articles with images can be found at http://www.resortsbc.com/Wilderness-AdventuresSep3.html