I've done two of them. Here are the trip reports:
RESCUE
Sea World Orlando, in addition to its fascinating animal exhibits and fun rides, also offers tours of backstage areas. The tours offered are Polar Expedition (behind-the-scenes at Wild Arctic), Sharks! (behind-the-scenes at Terrors of the Deep), and To the Rescue (highlighting Sea Worlds animal rescue and rehabilitation program). These tours cost $6.95 for adults ($5.95 for ages 3 9, 50% discount with an annual pass) and last an hour. During my recent visit to Sea World, I chose to go on the To the Rescue Tour. The tour began at 11:00, so I rode Kraken and Journey to Atlantis while I waited.
It was nearing 11:00, so I headed over to the To the Rescue tour meeting place. The meeting place was beside the Manatee exhibit. At 11:15, our tour guide, Sherry, took us away. Right beside the manatee exhibit was a big wooden gate with Key West at Sea World painted on it. As she opened the door, it creaked like a door at a haunted house! She asked us to be very quiet as we entered! Maintenance needs to put oil on the hinges!
We were taken to the various rehabilitation areas. We saw Sea Worlds rescue trunk, which has a specially paddled bed and various medicines for marine animals.
Sea World was rehabilitating sea turtles and manatees during my visit. The sea turtles are placed in small, round tanks. Some sea turtles had damaged shells and couldnt swim right. Next to the sea turtles were the manatees. There was one manatee in the tank that day. The manatee tank has a small isolation tank in case the manatee is too severely injured to mingle with the other manatees. When the manatee is well enough, he is released into the main tank with the other manatees. Our tour guide was telling us that shes seen manatees with the top of their bodies cut off and one with broken ribs. Later, we got to hold a manatee rib and it was quite heavy and thick. She had us imagine how much force was used to damage a manatee like that. Nearly every manatee injury comes from boats. Sherry also said that manatees are very social mammals, who even care for the young regardless if its theirs or not.
The tour also showed us some behind the scenes areas of Sea World. One tank had two dolphins in it. They prep the dolphins for a few months to see how they live and react to each other. When theyre ready, Sea Word releases them into the display area. Whenever we walked up to them, they started to jump around and poke their heads over the tank. Sherry said that they do this whenever someone approaches the tank. I think they were looking for a fish!
We saw some young sea otters in a tank. They were also being prepped for display, like the dolphins. When they are ready, they will be released into the display area. Another tank had a dolphin and her baby. Sea World would keep them here until the dolphin and the baby could be separated.
We then sat down in a shaded area and saw Elton the rabbit (who also had his own nametag). Sea World uses him when they go to schools. They tell kids not to buy animals during the holidays or get them as presents because in a few weeks, the animals are abandoned. It was a hot day, yet Elton seemed content! We also saw some photos of where the rescue team goes. Once, they were in a storm drain for eight hours, trying to rescue a manatee. All of the team was bitten many times by bugs. They were called out on Christmas to rescue sea turtles, all of which were rehabilitated and released. Sherry wanted to point out that animal rescue was not as glamorous as we thought.
Our final stop on the tour was the animal testing lab and the animal surgery facility. We did not get to go inside. We looked into the windows from the outside. We did not see an animal surgery, but she said that another tour guide saw a bird being operated on. They were trying to get coins out of the bird and they took out a total of five coins. We were then escorted out the creaky door.
POLAR EXPEDITION
In addition to its fine marine exhibits, Sea World Orlando offers behind-the-scenes tours. The tours offered are Rescue (highlighting Sea Worlds marine life rescue, rehabilitation, and release program), Sharks (a behind-the-scenes tour of the Terrors of the Deep attraction), and Polar Expedition (a behind-the-scenes tour of Wild Arctic). The tour costs $6.95 for adults and $5.95 for children. Annual passholders receive 50% off. In a recent Sea World trip, I chose to go on the Polar Expedition tour.
Our tour guide was Lisa and on this tour, she was being evaluated. The tour was maxed out at 20 people. Before the tour, we had to say our name, where we were from, and what polar animal we liked. There were a lot of people from Florida in the group. I couldnt think of my favorite polar animal, so I said polar bears for the heck of it. Lisa noted that she could probably answer every question we have. If she cant, we can fill out an Ask Shamu card. An Educator will research the issue and get back with us on an answer.
The tour began by bringing us backstage. We passed by the Special Events building and to the back of the Wild Arctic exhibit. Our first stop was the beluga whale tank. The tour guide showed us a big mural of a beluga whale and explained the features of the whale. We saw the beluga whale tank through a window. The animals in the Wild Arctic exhibit have three areas to swim in. One is the main tank in the exhibit. The other two tanks were behind the scenes. Lisa explained how they obtain blood samples, examine the whales, and get urine samples. Sea World has a padded bed where theyve trained the whale to stay still on as they draw blood and do an examination. Theyve even trained the whales to give urine samples.
We entered the building and we had to scrub our shoes on a mat with some cleaning solution. We passed by a tank with some harbor seals. When we passed by them, they stuck their heads out of the water. I think they were looking for a fish! Lisa showed us toys, which Sea World called EED (Environment Enrichment Devices). They were essentially toys for the polar bears. We were also shown the wetsuit area and the food preparation room.
Lisa asked us who wanted to pet a polar bear. A few hands went up. Then she showed us a bucket before a polar bear played with it. It was round and new. Then she showed a bucket after the polar bear got it. It had a big dent in it and lots of bite marks. No one wanted to pet a polar bear after that!
We exited the room and walked by the water filtration tanks. Huge tanks convert over 900,000 gallons of fresh water into salt water. Shamu Stadium has similar tanks and they convert over 1.2 million gallons of water! Water is filtered every 15 minutes, so if a whale goes to the bathroom, the water will be clear again in 15 minutes.
Our next stop was the polar bear area. Before we entered the area, Lisa talked about polar bears and showed us a big mural. The polar bear was quite tall. They range from 10 to 15 feet tall. I stood by the polar bear as a point of reference because I was pretty tall. She also talked about how the Denver Zoo found their two polar bears, Klondike and Snow, and how they came to Sea World.
We scrubbed our shoes again and went into the polar bear area. We saw a polar bear playing with his EEDs. Lisa explained more about polar bears and let us feel a polar bear pelt. The fur on a polar bear is actually transparent! She also talked about the bears big feet and how its used to walk around in the snow. She showed us a polar bear tracking collar, which tracks a polar bear for about two years.
We hopped on a bus and took a 35 second drive over to the penguin area. We scrubbed our shoes again. In this area, we got to touch a penguin. We entered a behind the scenes penguin holding area. It was pretty cold. It was about 45 degrees! I was glad to be in the cold because it was so hot outside. A family wasnt too happy because they were soaked on Journey Into Atlantis before they came on the tour. A Sea World employee held a penguin as one by one, we touched the penguin. We used to fingers and petted the penguin along his back. The penguin felt like silk. The penguin has over 70 feathers per square inch!
After our penguin encounter, Lisa took us into a room and talked more about penguins. She noted that they sometimes use wooden eggs if a penguin abandons her eggs. She noted that a snake once swallowed two wooden eggs and needed surgery.
We were escorted out of the room and dropped off by Shamu Stadium. Lisa noted that at 2:00, an Educator would come to the Penguin Encounter and talk about penguins. Then he would ask a question about something he discussed. The first one to reply would be escorted backstage and would be allowed to pet in penguin in the exhibit area.
