Discontinued shows

[RabFlmom]

Shamu Rocks America is gone. They had a regular Shamu show tonight at closing instead of the rocks show. But the closing show was really well done. Enjoyed it more than the show we saw in afternoon.

We also found out the last Clyde and Semore show is just a regular show again, too. I guess they only do the slightly different show in the summer:-(

It was raining during the show and it seemed like they rushed through it skipping some things they usually do and gnerally was the worst show I have ever seen with the sea lions. The mime did not work during the rain either and we always say that is our favorite reason for going to that show. LOL


That said, though we had a great time. We spent part of the rainy time of the day in the underwater viewing area for the dolphins. Saw the coolest thing. One of the dolphins would go up to get air, then would blow out the blow hole. A ring in the water would form( sort of a tube of water you could see through) and the dolphin would then play with the ring -swimming through it, chomping on it, knocking it down into the gravel, etc. Question is what made the ring form when he blew out of his blow hole? Other dolphin did the same thing but they would just get a trail of bubbles. Why did this dolphin have the ability to make the rings?

Sea World was open 9-7 today so hours are shorter. They only had 2 or 3 showings of each show, so the stadiums filled for every show-even after the rains came.

 

[CatLady]

The Sea Lions Tonight show is only done when park hours are extended, which is generally summertime and holidays. You can't have a "night" show without it being night, after all!

One of the dolphins would go up to get air, then would blow out the blow hole. A ring in the water would form( sort of a tube of water you could see through) and the dolphin would then play with the ring -swimming through it, chomping on it, knocking it down into the gravel, etc. Question is what made the ring form when he blew out of his blow hole? Other dolphin did the same thing but they would just get a trail of bubbles. Why did this dolphin have the ability to make the rings?

Scientists are evidently studying dolphins blowing rings. From http://sciam-editor.typepad.com/weblog1/2005/06/cetacean_cultur.html:

During the past five years at Sea Life Park Hawaii, we have studied 17 bottlenose dolphins; nine of them, ranging in age from 1.5 to 30 years old, generated air rings. Based on our observations at other oceanariums and consultations with colleagues at various sites, we believe ring blowing is more common at Sea Life Park Hawaii than at other aquariums; the dolphins here appear to have created a “ring culture” in which novice dolphins learn to make rings in the presence of experts that, in a sense, pass down the tradition.

 

[RabFlmom]

Thanks for sending the link to the site about the dolphin rings . That was a cool article. Will have to do more research------wow dolphins actually using tools and teaching others is amazing.