I went to the Orca Encounter show at Sea World in San Diego, California. The show has been changed as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has protested Sea World numerous times and also the movie Black Fish has portrayed Sea World in a negative light. For me Sea World is doing nothing different than any zoo around the world is doing, except that Sea World works hard to help rehabilitate many animals in the wild. I have personally seen Sea World get called down to the local beach to where they captured an injured harbor seal and take it to fix it and then release it back into the wild. Sea World changed their show to be more friendly to the killer whales by showing behaviors that they would normally do in the wild. They showed characteristics of the orcas, hunting techniques, and even the size difference between and orca and a blue whale. Sea World also showed how they care for the orcas. It was certainly a good show and worth the chance to go visit.

After the show I walked back to the orca tank and to my surprise there was an orca that appeared to be sleeping. I talked with the Sea World trainer and she informed me that this particular orca seemed to enjoy sleeping while the others would swim around and learn from each other. The trainer also told me that orca’s can sleep while they are swimming. They do that by shutting down 1/2 of their brain. Even though this orca looks like it shut down 100% of it’s brain, it was pretty amazing to hear.