The Continuing Adventures of Jud

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Inside the main doors on each side is a large extremely character dense pierced relief of detailed scenes from the jungle and exotic life. A few decorative pieces adorn the walls throughout the resort, and additionally the fixtures, such as the signage, the bar and the front desk and lobby are extensively carved with basic motifs. Of particular excitement to me, being one who is most thrilled by relief carving, is a panel that circumnavigates the wall on the large open stairwell to the lower level. A huge window above it, open to the brilliant Florida sunshine, is what made getting good shots so very difficult.

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On the lower level, there are more carved pieces decorating the walls.

Back up on the main level, and not at all carving related, there is simply a wonderful space in the center of the level, an open-air area of fountains and flora. I have never seen anyone (except myself!) actually enter the area, but it is delightful!

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The next day I headed to Sea World, and started the day with a ride in the newly refurbished Sky Tower. Though not intended as a shooting visit, I was once again drawn into that activity when at the Arctic Adventure, a few opportunities presented themselves. After the ride, one is on a walking tour through the various habitats of several Arctic mammals, starting with beluga whales, and including polar bears, walrus, and other residents of the colder climes. All of these areas, due to the thick glass and the dim lighting are difficult to shoot, but the opportunities presented this day demanded I try once again.

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Oh! I also wanted to comment that upon entering Sea World, I discovered that they have made a new map, a great improvement over the former one: much clearer and easier to “read”. I haven’t checked it against the older version yet, but I think they simply removed a lot of the detail and information that they had (mistakenly) tried to include before, which made it so hard to follow, especially given that completely irregular layout of the park to begin with! Also of note is that they have purchased a large parcel of land across the highway and have begun demolition of the existing old hotel. You can see this as you exit I-4 to the tollgate. The little I got was that a tunnel will be built under the highway, or a bridge over it, to connect the properties. I think the thing to do would be to move the parking to the new property and expand the park into the existing parking lot, but who knows! If that is what happens, remember, you read it here first!
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First to tempt me was a rare close up view of one of the 4 polar bears that live there. This one, in an unusual action, had chosen to lay down and nap right at the glass, and though sleeping, was in clear close up view! Naturally, several guests also chose to be right up against that window! The guide was clearly delighted to be there with such a great viewing opportunity and I asked several questions. On a marker board it had stated that polar bears can detect the scent of a seal from up to 20 miles away! I asked if they could also tell it was twenty miles away, as if I smelled diner, and it was twenty miles away vis-à-vis, in the next room, this would make a bit of difference! He went around on this for a while, but finally decided to state that they could differentiate relative distance, that is, would know that this one scent was significantly further off than say a seal a mile off in another direction. He also pointed out, much to my surprise, that polar bears have black skin and two layers of fur!

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I moved on from there, and raced my ECV down the ramp to the lower level, where one is looking into the habitats from below water level and can observe the incredible grace with which these animals move under water- usually fast and sleek! However, one of the windows held a rare and glorious surprise this day: in the window for the Walrus habitat, there was this one that was being a real ham! It quickly became clear that he knew we were shooting, and he was posing! Really! Unbelievable! He would pose for whoever held a camera, look right at them and hold it! Then he would go up to the surface and pose for someone there! Then come back under and pose for us again! It was unique! I have never seen any but the dolphins and whales showing such awareness of the viewers!

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My next planned visit was to the Odyssea show and it turned out I had some time to kill before that, so I made several passes through the shark tank (the shark tank is a clear tube running under the water through the shark habitat- the floor is a conveyor belt, so you are moved through at a fixed rate. As it wasn't particularly crowded this day, it was no problem heading back to the start for another run!)

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Then onto the show! I hadn't seen Odyssea for a few months and they have made a few changes that have improved an already delightful and impressive show. For those who have seen this often overlooked attraction, the lady in the pearl?- well, now there are two, and it is much more than twice as impressive! For those who have not seen this show, put it on your list! I have no idea how to describe it, or tell what kind of show it is, but it is worth seeing, and I guess it is best described as simply good entertainment!

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By this point, I was pretty exhausted so went out to my van for a nap, then returned for the 4:15 show of Blue Horizons, a spectacular show of whales, dolphins, birds, acrobats and swimmers built around a story of a girls dream. I have seen this every visit, and it gets better every time: they really put it together for this one!

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I wanted to end the day with the final Shamu show, an hour away, so dropped in to see my “buddies”, at Penguin Encounter, always good for some fun and laughter;

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and after that, I found a new spot (from one end of the Clydesdale stables) to shoot Kraken, the extreme coaster, had a snack at the Anheuser-Busch hospitality house, tried a few games at the arcade, then entered Shamu Stadium for the 6:30 show.

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They are doing major refits of the stadium in preparation for a new presentation to open shortly, and that, coupled with the recent birth of a new baby Shamu three months ago, has resulted in the rather brief and limited show running currently. But even so, seeing these magnificent mammals swim and leap and do pretty much anything is always inspiring! The refits are to include 7 large video screens where before there was one. I was told that this will allow multiple views to be projected at the same time. One of the great advantages of the previous screen was that during the show, it often showed the view of the underwater camera, so one could see when a whale was heading up to the surface and about to break into a leap- with the delay in snapping a photo with a digital camera, this was a helpful thing.

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Headed home and got there in time to watch Battlestar Gallactica which was only slightly delayed when sudden power loss hit the neighborhood for about five minutes.

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For more photos, see the album of the same name at my photo site.

:)

Jud

# posted by JUD @ 10:17 AM