Tim & Amy Photo Blog
Sea World -a whale of good time
We had a great time at Sea World, and my favorite part is always the whales. But this time, I think I left with a few more questions then answers.
1) Have you ever noticed that they call all the whales Shamu?
2) At the beginning of the show they point out that some dorsal fins are bent, and ask the audience what they think - some cute kid thought this ones dorsal fin was bent because the tip was too heavy. But they never answer the question- so why is it bent, huh?
3) The whales can jump out of the water, and splash people -do they ever jump between their pools (they have multiple pools- check out the one behind this guy jumping)?
4) Why don't they have the whales jump through that giant wreath?
5) Why are all the trainers named becky, becki, or some other derivation?
6) During the performance we saw, one of the whales seemed grumpy - do they have bad days, and if so, shouldn't the trainers be scared? (sorry beckie to give you nightmares)
7) Do the whales get vacations?
8) How strong is their union?
Well, that's about it. We really did enjoy the show. The whales have their own website - check it out, and they also have a newsletter (PDF) - but I wish it was written from the standpoint of the whales.
posted by Tim McGee at
8:38 PM
2 Comments:
FYI, from http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/KillerWhale/physchkw.html :
"No one is exactly sure why the dorsal fins of killer whales bend, but it may have to do with genetics, injuries, or because the fins can be taller than many humans without any hard bones or muscles for support. ... A recent survey of killer whales around New Zealand has documented that 23% of wild males had bent fins."
By
Rock Star Mama, at January 10, 2006
To take this to the next geeky level - my guess is it has to do with the type of collagen produced by the whale. There are 27 types of collagen - and in humans the ratio of collagen types changes with age. It could be the 'bent' fin whales lack the ability to make a specific type of collagen, or have a reduced ability due to genetics, or environmental factors (not getting their vitamins). This would be a fantastically fun study to do if some Grad student out there is listening to me....
By
Tim McGee, at January 10, 2006
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