In 1990, my parents brought me to San Diego and we went to SeaWorld.
For a 9 year old, I was BLOWN AWAY and immediately in love. I fell in love with ANIMALS, almost all of them. I didn't touch the dolphins at the touch pool because I was afraid that I'd scratch them. I spent 10 years regretting it and wishing I would have touched one.
I went home and my room was filled with animals (birds, hamsters, fish). I adopted a humpback whale. I spent hours researching and reading books to understand how to take care of my animals with the best food, living conditions and enrichment. I was nine years old and learning how to research, getting excited about books and loving animals in the best way a 9 year old could.
The Bird Station:
Fast forward a really long time (2011) and my husband and I take a trip to Alaska. Obviously, the only thing on my mind was this:
SPEACHLESS!!!!! DREAMS CAME TRUE! 9 Hours on the ocean watching birds (there was a bird watching group on the boat) and all other animals. I fell while running to the front of the boat in Seward to see them. I wanted to shout I LOVE YOU and freak out because they just let us watch them.
BEST. DAY. EVER….. Or so I thought.
Fast forward again (2013) and now I have a 7 month old human being that I am responsible for rearing to be an intelligent, respectful, kind person. We find ourselves at Sea World Orlando.
This activity is safe and he's loving it. Loving it as in, going to jump in with the rays if we let him.
We graduate to a bigger activity. All is well. We are following rules!
This activity is keeping me on my toes slightly…. I'm nervous.
I'm thinking "let's take a photo of him before he freaks out at the cetaceans flying through the air and such." He's 7 months old, that's what I fully expected.
So far so good… Not flipping out. Oh yea, there's a show going on. Hopefully he hasn't pooped or isn't hungry but I'm ready for those things like a thoroughbred at the gate.
The end of the show came and this happened:
HE'S WAVING TO THE ORCA'S!!!! He has never waved at anything in his life! I cried. I cried because it was touching and I realized that my role/job is to ensure that he respects animals and the environment. He doesn't need to love them like I do, but he needs to respect them.
We came home and I thought he'd forget about the orca's but I was wrong.
At 20 months old, he walks over to the DVD player, picks out One Ocean and brings it back to me. He jumps into my lap and we sit and watch the entire thing.
Evan is turning two in May and we are taking him back to Orlando in April and back to SeaWorld. This is what SeaWorld does along with everything else that they do. They promote the love and respect for animals in generations of human beings. They remind us that we don't need to be orca trainers to make a difference. Pick up that lost dog on the street and help find it's owner. Plant a plant that's good for the environment and maybe even something that bares food for you (I tried it last year, it was actually fun said the plant killer). Teach your kids how they can positively affect their environment and how to CARE for it. That's what SeaWorld taught me and what I can pass on to my child.
Side Bar: If someone made a movie of my life and all the things I've done wrong, it would be absolutely horrifying. It's so easy to point out what people, institutions and organizations have done wrong as opposed to celebrating what they do RIGHT and how far we've all come.
Second Side Bar: I'm absolutely shocked staring at the stats at how many people are reading this. I wanted to put my experience in one place for a few reasons. 1-To remind myself how I'm going to explain the importance of SeaWorld to my son when he gets older. 2- So that others can know that it's OK not to side with main stream media. SeaWorld isn't paying me.
The comments below are a safe place for people to share positive feelings for the parks and their conservation/education efforts free of criticism and negativity!
