SeaWorld San Diego And Your Amazing Beluga Whale Experience

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The Beluga Interaction Program at SeaWorld San Diego was an amazing experience.

You do have to be 50 inches or taller, so we had some family join us in SeaWorld that day to watch our little one while my husband and I “suited up” for the encounter.

We will definitely be repeating this with both of our girls when they are old enough.

You start out checking in by Wild Arctic. The SeaWorld staff member leads you around to the backstage entrance of Wild Arctic. We were given wet suits and individual shower/changing rooms to get the wet suits on over our bathing suits. There was room to leave your dry clothes and personal items behind.

Once the group was ready to go, we walked through the backstage area of the Wild Arctic exhibits. We walked by the walruses and continued straight on to the beluga whales. There is a different encounter that includes the walruses.

It was really cool to see the back pool area not visible from the exhibit. It gives the trainers and medical staff a great area to work with the animals as well as additional space to separate out which animal requires individual attention. The pool can also be left open for the whales to have additional swimming space.

Pro Tip: Wether you are a local or visiting, take a look at additional tours in San Diego. Get Your Guide has a lot of options as shown below.

Moving to the front of the exhibit, we walked down onto the platform. There were two locations the group could stand, one a bit more shallow than the other. Since we had a group of 6 (3 couples) and my husband and I were fine being on the slightly deeper end, we were off to ourselves with one trainer while the other 4 were split to the shallow end with the other trainer. This allowed us to essentially have a private session.

The trainer explained all about the routine care and enrichment as well as fun facts about the whales. Honestly, I was surprised at how different this was from previous dolphin encounters we had done. I know they are completely different animals, but you don’t realize the differences until you get up close.

For starters, the beluga whale has a large melon (forehead) which is way more jiggly than anticipated. It is flexible and full of fat, helping with sound production. The flexibility is thought to help with navigating through the ice. Because of this, being able to move the melon back and forth is a natural trait in beluga whales. Not quite knowing what this looks like and not knowing the meaning behind the signal my husband was shown by the trainer made for an hilarious anthropomorphic effect similar to that of flirtatiously raised eyebrows from a human when paired with the trainer’s “hubba hubba” commentary.

Another difference is the sheer size. Again, an obvious observation, but something that isn’t fully appreciated until you are in the water with a whale. Something unique to this species is that beluga whales can actually swim backward as well as forward. Their swimming was amazing to watch from a front row seat in the water with them.

We were able to interact with each whale individually. I loved this opportunity because it gave you a bit of insight into their different personalities. The trainers talked about each whale, their habits, how they interact during training sessions. It was a privilege to be given some personal insight into their care. We were given some great photo op moments as the trainers coached us through what to do.

Of course, no encounter with a marine mammal would be complete without getting completely soaked.

There were interesting facts and stories and great information shared with us during this experience. Also, 2 photographers took photos from different angles which gave a complete photographic account. The CD with digital images was additional, but well worth the money (I always prioritize photo souvenirs). It was truly an adventure to remember, and I am so glad we were able to do this.

Check out the online Beluga Whale Info Book for more about these amazing animals!

Ready to book your own encounter? Get you discounted ticket and hotel package, then book your encounter of choice directly through SeaWorld.

*Pro-Tip: keep an eye out for animal encounter discounts such as around the Thanksgiving Holiday

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