My Trip To Sea World San Diego, California

 Sea World San Diego: Where Worlds Connect It was July of 2003

My family and I were on our way to San Diego, California. My mother explained to me where we were going, Sea World San Diego. It’s an attraction Park in San Diego, California. The feeling of excited intensified when I would look out my window to see how many miles we had left. I’ve never been to Sea World before, little known San Diego. When we finally reached out destination I had to wait one more day until Sea World and I would finally meet. I tossed and turned all night from excited just waiting for the clock to strike 7am and we’d be on our way. When the morning hit I made sure everyone was up and we were ready to go before the feeling of excitement started to get out of control. We finally arrived I didn’t think it was going to be as big as my Mother played it out to be. Having that first impression in my mind we finally reached the inside which turned my view around Sea World and that’s when I knew I was in love.

 Four graduate students, Milton C. Shedd, Ken Norris, David Demont, and George Millay all attended the University of California Los Angelos were the founders SeaWorld back in 1964. They originally did not intend on building a park but wished to pursue a dream of an underwater restaurant. When they realized how unrealistic that dream was back in 1964 they decided to build a marine life theme park.

When you first step into SeaWorld property you introduced to several different entrances that lead you inside the main SeaWorld area where you then are able to explore. You see a variety of gift shops and memorabilia to keep the memories of your encounter with SeaWorld in your mind. There are a few different path ways your able to take to navigate your way through the park. When exploring SeaWorld I was overwhelmed with what I saw. The big long lines, all the gift shops and restaurants. I never saw so much variety of things my eyes couldn’t adjust. We then started to explore the animals once we got more in deep into the park. We first hit the penguin encounter this where my love for penguins flourished. Before I entered into the penguin encounter I wasn’t expecting to see more than a few penguins because in my mind they lives in Antarctica and you couldn’t go there to get them. “The penguin exhibit features over 300 penguins representing seven different species” (Wikipedia). Once I entered I remember my eyes trying to adjust on just how many penguins were on the other side of the class. I remember trying to figure out how soft their fur would be and imagining the cold water hitting my face. Seeing the bright blue water hit the glass and feeling that tension amazed me. It was my first encounter with a penguin; I usually saw them in cartoons and movies. They saw they moved and how they acted towards each other interest me. You can hear them squawking because they know your looking through that glass and them splashing around in the water. You touch the glass and feel like how cold it must be on the other side. It was an experience of a life time.

Around mid afternoon the Sea World shows are being shown from the Sea Otters to dolphins to the one and only Shamu Show. When I went my first time back in 2003 the Shamu Show was called The Shamu Experience that was put on during the day time. It was a chance to show Shamu’s interaction with the trainers and really let people know that even though he is a killer whale he can still interact with others. The first 15 to 20 rows in each section of the stadium was known as the splash zone in which Shamu would interact with you by splashing you with water. They would do a series of tricks and flips and even ride him around the giant pool they were in. At night they also have an interactive Shamu show filled with neon lights, trainers sharing their experiences, and kids telling their experience with Shamu as well.

With all the shows and encounters and different sites to see at Sea World San Diego I knew this was a place I wanted to come back to every once and awhile until my parents told me I would be joining in on the dolphin encounter which was actually swimming with the dolphins. My face light up with excitement when I realized what an incredible opportunity to get and at my age not a lot of the other kids can say they’ve swam with dolphins. Swimming with the dolphins was not only fun and games it was also a very serious matter. We first had to learn about the dolphins. We learned about their habits, tricks they do, the different types, just what to do in the water and several other things. Wet suits were provided for us before we got into the water. I remember looking at embracing everything around me. I remember thinking just how beautiful the water was and how slick those dolphins looked. I remember just smelling that salt water and having that unpleasant taste in my mouth but I was so excited I didn’t care that the water tasted horrible. The dolphins were sleek and shiny and quite smooth. In the water we go to do a series of tricks with them like say hello, blow a kiss, make them flip, and shake hands. It didn’t last that long but whether your in their for just a few minutes or two hours the experience doesn’t come very often and I will forever cherish that moment. As my journey to Sea World San Diego came to an end I realized just how much I’ve been missing out on.

The experiences and encounters with these animals really broaden your perspective on wild animals and know that they are okay to work with. It’s a great place where children can gain educational knowledge about animals and having fun doing it. It was a childhood memory that I will forever keep close to my heart. I loved it so much that every year sense then I’ve gone back with my family to relive that experience. It is definitely worth going to.  

Works Cited

 

ID'd, Whale. "Shamu (SeaWorld Show)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamu_(SeaWorld_show)>.

 

"Penguin Encounter." Web log post. Zoochat.com. Web. <http://www.zoochat.com/1262/penguin-encounter-penguin-exhibit-145830/>.

 

"SeaWorld San Diego." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaWorld_San_Diego>.

 

"SeaWorld Tickets, Fun Cards & Annual Passes | SeaWorld San Diego." SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://seaworldparks.com/seaworld-sandiego/Book-Online/Tickets>.

 

"What Are the Names of the Four Graduates That Founded Sea World." The Q&A Wiki. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_names_of_the_four_graduates_that_founded_Sea_World>.

Reflection

             I’ve learned that addressing the audience s harder than it looks and that I should have taken the time to really push that to  my ability. I don’t feel like I’ve addressed it as well as I could have. I think with this research topic that I chose it had some pros and cons to my rhetorical situation. A major con would be that it shows my emotional attachment to Sea World and it seems as though I wouldn’t choose anywhere else to vacation at which isn’t true but someone doesn’t know that.  My voice is very positive but also kind of child like, you can tell by certain words I’ve used

The strongest parts of my essay would have to be my ability to research on just who created it and when and that kind of idea. My weakest would probably be the information for Sea World. I only mentioned just a few of the numerous amounts of activities to do there and that’s where I would go back and redo my paper. My peer reader helped me a lot with the strucure of my paper. I had a hard time with that and that’s where she really helped me. Also Net tutor helps me with a lot of grammar and remembering to always cite. I did use photographs which were placed in my blog. 

Coming up with a topic sentence to start off my new paragraph and transitions. I’ve always had a hard time with those and I’m going to try to avoid them by just getting more practice with it.