IceSkatingPrincess
Forever mourning the loss of SpectroMagic
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2013
- Messages
- 3,111
This week, we were lucky enough to do the beluga interaction program. It was absolutely phenomenal. We started off by being taking behind the scenes to a trailer where we were fitted for our wetsuits amd boots, given towels and safety hair ties for the ladies. My group had only 4 people, myself, my husband, and a mother and her son who was probably about 12. We then were taken to locker rooms and assigned a lock for a surprisingly large locker to leave our things. The locker room had about 6 showers, 3 sinks, a small wall of lockers, mirrors and toilets. After we got changed, we were offered some cold water as getting into a wetsuit is hard work! Then, we were taken behind the scenes into the wild arctic building. We saw a few animals on our way, including a seal sea world rescued. He was badly bitten by a coyote, and due to disease would never be able to return to the wild. Him and two other rescued seals had their own separate pool behind the scenes where they had both shade and access to sunlight. We also saw the hidden area where the beluga whales are allowed to go yo get Natural sunlight, they seemed to enjoy it! Then, we went deeper into the building and learned about animal training from our guide, it was verg interesting. After this we met our private photo team and took some group pictures. These people would be photographing our entire encounter. We then met our trainers, went over a few saftey tips then headed into the exhibit! The water is very very cold. The wetsuit helps but you will still shiver. However, the interaction with the belugas is so entertaining and amazing you will forget you are freezing! We learned hand signals for training, gave hugs and kisses, and spent a good 20min in the water with the whales. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience. The whales also enjoy it, they keep every encounter different so they do not get bored. We spent the majority of our time with Klondike, who is 14. We also spent a little while with Mabel who is 8. Belugas can live to be up to 60, so these are rather young. They had so much personality and got very excited when they did a trick right and were awarded fish. You could tell they had a strong bond with their trainers as well. It was very much a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget. Next time I return to seaworld I will be doing it again! After we concluded we returned to our trailer and took hot showers and got dressed again. We were not rushed. Overall it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I will make it a point to do this every time I get the opportunity to go. I highly highly highly recommend it! You will not be disappointed. The photos came out fantastically, I was really impressed! The CD with print rights is $50, and believe me you WILL want these! It was amazing and well worth the money. Heck, don't tell seaworld but I think it is actually worth more!
My MS only causes a prob if there's some scrambling over rocks or whatever to do. With it saying on the site about the terrain being hard to manoeuvre, I thought maybe they'd tried to recreate the whale's natural environment and participants needed to take that into account before booking. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!! This news has REALLY made my day!! 
