The Beluga Interaction Program at SeaWorld
Orlando is a wonderful experience that places
four guests at a time side by side with
two SeaWorld handlers and two Beluga whales,
which have got to be some of the sweetest
animals on the planet. As guests arrive
at SeaWorld, they make their way over to
the Guest Services Counter to check in for
their adventure. Standard medical
information forms are given to be filled
out prior to the Interaction so it is advised
that you check in at least one hour prior
to the start of the experience. After
the simple forms are filled out, guests
of SeaWorld's Beluga Interaction Program
make their way to the Wild Arctic exhibit
at the southeast corner of the park.
Once there, you are greeted by friendly
member of park staff who escorts you backstage
to the prep area which includes the 'mud
room', a room full of wetsuits and other
equipment, and men's and women's locker
rooms equipped with lockers for personal
belongings, bathroom facilities, and showers.
After you are fitted for your wetsuit, you
are then escorted back to Wild Arctic where
the adventure takes place. There you
will be taken behind the scenes to the kitchen
where the meals for all the arctic animals
are prepped.
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These whales along with the walruses and
polar bears eat approximately 140 lbs of
food per day! That's a big order to
fill, and all the animals are fed regularly
and on well balanced diets that cater to
the individual animal and not just the species.
A view of the dive room where SeaWorld divers
collect their equipment to feed the different
animals and maintain the tanks and attractions
of the park is also given briefly.
As a crowd accumulates at the Beluga tank,
you and three other guests of the Interaction
make way to a tunnel that leads to the tank
that holds the two Beluga whales of the
show. Two guests team up with a handler
to show the Beluga's ability to interact
by the use of hand signals and body language.
Occasionally, the paired teams will switch
spots to obtain different vantage points
for your loved ones out in the crowd documenting
the experience. This also helps keep
the Belugas interested in the interaction
by keeping them moving. Beluga's have
the ability to spit a large stream of water
out of their mouths which is demonstrated
with a little splash of water to the whales
face by the handler. The whale then
spits this large stream of water at the
handler and guests as part of the show.
This show is interactive which means that
guests also participate by giving signals
to the whales at the handler's instruction.
The whales give kisses on the cheek, hugs,
rise from the water to touch your hand,
spin around, and make a wide range of noises
with different hand signals. These
noises come from the blow hole at the top
of the Beluga's melon, the thick layer of
fat on top of the whale's head, which is
manipulated with a combination of air to
produce different tones and sounds with
different hand signals. These sounds
are the communication used by the whales
when interacting with each other.
To keep on top of the whale's progress in
interacting with their handlers, a member
of the staff may use a slap target which
could either be a hand or a pole with a
rubber buoy attached that is slapped onto
the water which makes the whale stop what
it is doing and retreat to the slap target's
location. This shows the attentiveness
of these amazing animals. To describe
the feel of these animals would be to vision
a marshmallow covered with a slick durable
rubber mat. They love to be rubbed
and scratched so you are encouraged to pet
and rub them at the handler's instruction.
It's not very often that you get to pet
a Beluga whale, so when the opportunity
is presented, why not give it a go?
One vantage point for the guests of the
Interaction program is a little shelf where
when sat on, the water sits about waist
deep. To be forewarned, the water
in the Beluga tank is a cool 52 to 54 degrees
to simulate the animal's natural habitat.
The wetsuit provides some comfort, but the
water is a bit chilly. The experience
of interacting with these wonderful animals
surpasses the temperature of the water and
should definitely be experienced at least
once in one's life. After the experience,
guests are brought back to the building
that houses the 'mud room' and locker rooms
to begin cleaning up from the salt water
of the wild arctic tank. At the end
of the Interaction, guests receive a video
about whales and other sea life through
SeaWorld and a picture CD of the Interaction
which can be picked up at the Guest Services
desk at the same place where the check in
took place. The entire experience
is a total of two hours long.
While at
SeaWorld, visit all the other animal habitats
including the Shark Encounter, a look into
the most feared creatures of the sea, Pacific
Point Preserve featuring SeaWorld's sea
lions and harbor seals, the Penguin Encounter,
and so many more exhibits. All the
exhibits at SeaWorld are educational and
interesting to view. Also, visit Manta,
Kraken, and Journey to Atlantis, SeaWorld's
action rides and roller coasters.
With so much to see, you'll find it difficult
to see it all in one day, but you'll be
glad you came out.
