Why I Won't Be Returning to SeaWorld, Orlando

While on holiday in Florida we visited SeaWorld, it's a place we've been to many times before and I usually enjoy it. This time though, things were different.


The first time I visited SeaWorld, Orlando I was 22 and loved the place. I'd always loved sea life, had a fascination with dolphins. I was amazed that I could walk around and touch the animals. It was an incredible feeling feeding dolphins, touching them, I was moved to tears. 

I walked around and saw Penguins, Sea Lions, Sharks, and loved every second I spent there.



This time it felt different as soon as we walked through the entrance. Things have changed and feel more restricted.

To view animals you used to be able to just wander up to the tank or area and look at them but now you have to enter a 30 minute (sometimes much longer) queue and go on a ride. At the end of the ride you get to see the animals.

I don't understand why I have to do that. I don't like many rides and because of that I'm unable to see the animals.

Years ago I fed dolphins and all you had to pay for was the fish you were feeding them, these days though you have to pay to even step up to the dolphin area. It's now called a Dolphin Experience and costs a fortune. I would've loved to let BP and LP feed the Dolphins but it just wasn't worth the money. 

Walking around isn't as much fun as it used to be either. You could wander to different tanks, look at animals, and wander away, all in your own time. Now you have to go on a ride, or in a queue, and wait for others to vacate the area (which often takes 30 minutes) before you can see anything. I ended up having to tell LP to push his way through to the front because otherwise he wouldn't have seen anything.

All of that might not seem like much, certainly not a reason not to go back. And you're right, those things on their own probably aren't a good enough reason.



Have you ever looked at a bird in a cage and felt sorry for them?

That's how I felt in SeaWorld.

I felt sorry for the animals.


In the Penguin enclosure there were hundreds of penguins in what looked like a fairly small area. The pool they could swim in seemed tiny. As we walked through the area BP asked one of the staff how many penguins they had, she said it was more than 200. 

It was the same in the Dolphin area, there was an underground viewing area and we got to see 6 or 7 dolphins swimming around. I'm not sure why but the group stayed together, they didn't swim around much at all so we didn't see them. Again, the tank they're in is not big enough (in my opinion), certainly not for that many of them.

That's my problem now, I can't help but feel sorry for the animals. It doesn't matter to me that SeaWorld say they're looked after and they have plenty of space. Personally I don't like the idea of those animals trapped. They're in a cage or tank, have people constantly banging on the side of the tank, and have to perform tricks on command. 

It makes me uncomfortable. 


We had a chance to see the Shamu show but we chose not to go. That awesome creature ought to be in the ocean, where it belongs. It makes me sad that so many people get enjoyment out of watching the Orca (killer-whale) perform tricks, and I'm ashamed that I used to be one of those people. 

By 12:30pm we were leaving SeaWorld having not seen some of the animals and feeling shame and pity for the ones we had seen. 

It is not something I want to repeat. 


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