New Lows in Product Placement

Sea World (aka Anheiser Busch) has a Sea Lion and Otter Show. In it they have the cutest little otter who, ironically enough, they have trained to carry Pepsi. Where will the product placement people stop? Shamu juggling cans of Bud? I admit, it was cute and probably harmless enough although it did seem a little cheesy of them. Hmmm, I wonder if they'd pay me to put beer ads on my T-shirts? A career limiting move you say? Perhaps.

Dolphin Social

A little dolphin socializing was going on at Sea World. It was feeding time and the dolphins all came up to the wall for fish. As this young child found out, they seem to also enjoy the occasional rub.

Do You Like To Cuttle?

Humph. What the heck is Cuttling anyhow? I looked up cuttle to see where the name cuttlefish came from and all I got was: ten-armed oval-bodied cephalopod with narrow fins as long as the body and a large calcareous internal shell. So...oh well. I guess cuttle can mean whatever you want it to! As long as it has ten arms. These two were posing at Sea World for yours truly.

Shamu or Two!

Why it's Shamu! Both of them! ..or maybe 2 of 4? Ever wonder why Sea World doesn't give their whales names? Maybe Bob or Sue? Franky? Either way, they are magnificent animals only reduced somewhat by being in a tank doing tricks for the public. I can only imagine what it must be like to come upon a pod of killer whales in person in the wild!

Which One is Shamu?

So the trainer comes up the the little kid and says, "what do you want to see?" The kid says, "SHAMOOOOO!!!!" I always wondered if it really was a random kid or not or if they us employees kids or little acters. Either way, the act was cute.

I did wonder to myself, however, which Shamoo the kid really wanted to see. There were four whales (all called Shamoo) jumping around and maybe even a Shamoo or two to spare in a side tank! Nonetheless, Shamoo #1, #2, #3 and #4, the amazing performing killer whales, did some spectacular jumps and managed to get the front rows thoroughly soaked as planned. I think everyone had a good time. It would be fun to know if there really was an original Shamoo that started the whole show way back when Sea World was just getting started.

Sea Elf

Here's a little picture from Sea World at the Shamu Show. The food and souvenir vendors were wearing Shamu hats which looked a little elfish. The hats had big floppy red shamu tails on them instead of your typical white Santa puff ball.

New Enthusiasm for a New Year

As I see this picture, with a Mom holding up her child to get a better view of the huge sea bass that is slowly gliding by the window pane, I am reminded of the sense of wonder at the world and the wide-eyed, open minded hunger for new knowledge and experiences that we possess as youth. Some of us lose that curiosity and hunger along the way, having substituted neat labels and stereotypes for how we perceive the world and conveniently ignoring all the things that do not fit into that all too tidy world. For 2007, perhaps we can all try a little harder to re-kindle the fires of open minded curiosity from our youth and rediscover the world each day with wide eyes full of excitement and enthusiasm.

Eye to Eye

Sometimes, when taking pictures, the bloopers are almost more precious than the pictures that came out. This tourist popped his head up right in front of my camera and I ended up with an ear shot instead of walrus. However, if you look closely, you can see them staring at each other leading you to wonder what would happen if that thick plexi-glass pane wasn't there.

Happy Baby Penguin

Found this happy little penguin at Seaworld. His mom was standing nearby to keep watch. Reminded me of the neighbor's kids that are always running up and down the cul de sac. Isn't it amazing how much energy youngsters have? Almost makes me wish I was a kid again.