Lake Apopka – Where did the birds go?

Aug. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Sea World is possibly the only chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks known throughout the world, the mascot of Sea World is a killer whale.  It is synonymous with the park; the orca whale is called Shamu and has been a mascot for the park for many years now.

Shamu was the fourth killer whale ever captured and was the third Orca ever displayed in a public exhibit, the previous orca captures were Moby Doll and Namu. But she was the first whale to survive more than 13 months in captivity and was the star of a popular whale show at the San Diego branch of Sea World in the mid 1960s.  After her death in 1971, her legacy was continued as Sea World continued to use the name Shamu in the Sea World “Shamu” orca shows for different killer whales in the various Sea World parks all over the world.

Killer whales are often referred to as the Orca.  They are toothed whales belonging to the oceanic Dolphin family.  They are a species that can be found in all oceans, which means they can adapt to the various temperatures.  You can find them in the chilly Arctic and Antarctic Oceans to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  Killer whales are highly social which is why they are at these are observed and held in captive in water parks as they are intriguing although there are contrasting opinions about captivity.  They are seen as maternal creatures that look at for others and are considered the most stable of any animal species.

The day to day behaviour of a killer whale consists of travelling, hunting for food. Resting and socialising but they do tend tom engage in aerobatic activities.  These have special names, they tend to breach (sometimes called lunge) is when they leap out of water where at least 40% of their body clears the water, spy hopping is when a whale rises and holds position partly out of the water mainly exposing its head, it is considered akin to a human trending water.  It is controlled and slow; they usually do it when they want to observe something such as a boat or maybe view their prey.  Then there are the ones they do such as logging (laying on its back) and Lob tailing (slapping their tail against the water)

The Shamu shows are presented at the San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio shows, it use to be at the Ohio Park as well but that was closed down in 2001 and the park was sold to Six Flags.  The park in Florida is one of the most popular Sea World park to go to especially as it has other attractions like Roller coasters such as Kraken and Manta, also don't forget the many other animals they have such as dolphins and penguins.  It is close to many Orlando vacation rentals so a visit to the park won't be too long or strenuous.  As part of a marketing campaign for Sea World Southwest Airlines had painted three planes in the iconic black and white killer whale and called the Shamu aircraft.

# # #

Vacation rentals from around the world, direct from the owner at vacationrentalpeople.com.

Try some of the amazing Orlando vacation rentals available at VacationRentalPeople.com.