BarryHom
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 14,159
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. 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.
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.
