My family visits SeaWorld® San Diego frequently because of the many learning opportunities there for my daughter. If you’ve visited SeaWorld before you are probably familiar with the soak zone seating at the shows. The clearly marked rows of seats are always full of guests in the SeaWorld soak zone. I’m sharing the truth about the SeaWorld soak zone so you can decide if it’s the appropriate place for you to sit during your next family visit.
We recently visited SeaWorld San Diego and stayed until the park closed for the Summer Nights event. We watched the Shamu’s Celebration Light Up the Night show before viewing fireworks from the stadium. We had excellent seats and I enjoyed looking down on the soak zone. The designated seats are the first rows in many of the stadiums. While more than just whales can splash during shows, attending a show with killer whales and sitting in the soak zone on a warm summer night means you just might end up soaked.
Do you really get soaked in the soak zone?
Yes!
We’ve had plenty of experiences sitting in the soak zone and leaving shows soaking wet. Keep in mind each show is unique and splashing will vary. Do you sit in the soak zone or prefer to watch from above as guests get a nice cool wave of water to cool them off in the summer?
Our experience learning about killer whales and hearing a whale trainer’s firsthand experience adds to why we fully support the wonderful education endeavors at SeaWorld and inspires each of our visits.
To learn more about SeaWorld’s commitment to maintaining their position as a world leader in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, read the open letter from SeaWorld’s animal advocates. Read why I choose to support SeaWorld if you are interested in our frequent visits to the parks.
If you feel as passionately as I do that SeaWorld provides excellent care for all their animals, are leaders in animal conservation, and are providing abundant educational opportunities, please join the SeaWorld Truth Team to learn how you can stand with SeaWorld.
Connect with SeaWorld San Diego on Facebook, Instagram, and with Clyde the Sea Lion on Twitter to learn more about the park and special events.
Disclosure: Our family received complimentary tickets to SeaWorld and a day full of animal interactions with many learning opportunities for this visit. All opinions are my own.
Nice blog and a great post. I agree with you about SeaWorld. I’m not a scientist, but I enjoy reading about the biology of whales and dolphins and especially the history of marine mammals in human care for public exhibition, education and entertainment (entertainment is not a dirty word nor does it mean that the animals in SeaWorld’s parks don’t receive the best veterinarian care, safe habitats and enrichment in the world). If SeaWorld failed at all in this age of “Blackfish” and its radical agenda, it’s that it didn’t educate its audiences more about the care they receive and the true nature of the so-called “tricks” they perform. Those physically and cognitively complex behaviors are certainly entertaining and inspiring to watch—but what we are watching isn’t only fun for us, it’s a large component of the animals’ well-being. They are incorporating all of this into their shows now, but the ignorance of the audience about their caretaking was easily exploited by the activists behind “Blackfish.”
You may be aware of these, but here are two commentaries published last year (independently) by fifteen cetacean researchers that examine the scientific basis of the claims made by anti-captivity movement. Their conclusion? It doesn’t exist. I keep sharing these links in the hope that more people will read them and reevaluate their own beliefs when better, more reliable information emerges. I hope it’s all right to share them here in the spirit of your blog. Both commentaries are open access:
“Bias and Misrepresentation of Science Undermines Productive Discourse on Animal Welfare Policy: A Case Study”:
mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/7/1118/htm
“Distinguishing personal belief from scientific knowledge for the betterment of killer whale welfare—a commentary”:
escholarship.org/uc/item/6cj9473p
Thank you again for this blog.