Trip to Marineland Canada - The Marine Animals

Published
by
Graham
on September 9, 2006
in Niagara Falls Attractions
.

Marineland Canada logo

Considering the name of the park, the first thing that most people think of is the animals, inparticular the whales. They appear prominently in all of the advertisements both in print and on TV. It’s the main reason why I wanted to go, and I wasn’t disappointed.

20060828_marineland_02.jpgWhen we first arrived, a show was just starting in King Waldorf’s Stadium. We ran up the ramp so that we wouldn’t miss anything. The stadium is quite large and must seat well over 1,000 people. We sat near the top and although we were probably at the furthest seat in the theatre, we still had a good view.

The first 20 minutes of the show were of the sea lions and a walrus. There were 2 or 3 trainers that were out leading them. They rolled over, slid down a slide, balanced a ball on their nose, and caught rings around their necks. One of the trainers swam with them. The sea lions also “sang” for us. The walrus didn’t do too much. He was huge, so it was still neat seeing it.

20060828_marineland_01.jpgThe last 10 minutes or so of the show were of the dolphins. They were fantastic! There were 5 dolphins that came out of one of the side tanks to perform. They “walked” on water, swam around fast, and did lots of flips. A luck little girl got to feed one of the dolphins, too. After the show the dolphins stayed in the big tank so that we could see them. My 4-year-old son and I went down to see them up close. The show runs several times a day, so make sure you leave time to see it.

Up until recently, the killer whales (orca) were the only whales at Marineland with Kandu as their “signature male (he died last year). Years ago they used to perform in the stadium, but these days they are in a much larger area and have far less human interaction.

20060828_marineland_orca_01.jpgThere are currently only 3 killer whales at Marineland. The male, female, and baby are housed in Friendship Cove. When we were visiting, the male was on his own in one section. He kept bobbing up and down in the water. Just before he would go back in, he’d squirt water out of his mouth. The mother and baby were in a different section. They stayed mostly underwater and were rarely seen at the surface.

20060828_marineland_orca_02.jpgThe best place to view the whales is at the underwater viewing area. It’s eerily cool as there are no artificial lights. The blue-painted tank glows through the glass to provide the lighting. From here you get a much better view of the whales. The mother and baby swam around perfectly synchronized. They never touched, but as the mother swam around, the baby stayed a couple of feet above her and swam in perfect unison.

20060828_marineland_beluga_01.jpgThe beluga whales are a much new exhibit and are housed in Arctic Cove. It is laid out in a similar way, with several different sections for the whales. The biggest difference between the belugas and the orcas is the number of them. There are over 20 of them (I’m not sure the exact number), and they seem to have a distinct personality. You could pay $8 to feed them. The belugas would crowd around the edge waiting for food. They almost seemed like dogs begging, and they seemed just as friendly. The view from beneath was quite funny. Instead of seeing them swimming around, they were almost leaning up against the viewing window vertically.

20060828_marineland_beluga_02.jpgWhile you are feeding the whales (they also have limited feeding of the killer whales), there is a photographer taking picture. They are quickly transmitted back to a booth where you can view them and purchase various packages.

Read more of the series on Marineland Canada, or learn more from other sites:

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