Daily Archive for July 26th, 2007

Orca Whale Splash Show at Marineland

Published
by
Graham
on July 26, 2007
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 3 Comments

As I’ve mentioned a couple of time, I have a season pass to Marineland and have already been a few times this year. The last couple of times that I’ve gone I’ve spent a lot of time in Friendship Cove to watch the Orca (killer) whales. Before Friendship Cove was finished a few years ago, the whales were in much smaller tanks in King Waldorf’s stadium. They would perform shows in the stadium several times a day, including having someone riding on them. Whether it was pressure from activist groups, or another reason, these sorts of performances have stopped. Friendship Cove is gigantic compared to where they used to live, so there is a lot more room for them to swim around. The only performances now are “splash shows” where the whales do a few tricks like jumping out of the water, splashing people watching with their tail, etc. There are only 4 or 5 performances during the day, and they last about 15 minutes.

I’ve taken quite a few pictures and put them in the Summer 2007 Orca Whale Splash Show gallery. The thumbnails below are a sample of the pictures. You can see more thumbnails and the larger versions of all the pictures in the gallery.





I’ve also put together a 4:30 video of the splash show.

Motel 6 Light Now On In Niagara Falls, Ontario

Published
by
Graham
on July 26, 2007
in Niagara Falls Hotels and Niagara Falls News
. 2 Comments

From Hospitality-1st.com:

Realstar Hospitality announces the opening of its newest Motel 6 property in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The new construction six storey 132 room hotel incorporates sleek architectural exterior and interior designs featured in the chain’s modern prototype. The 100% smoke-free property uses energy-efficient lighting throughout the hotel, both inside and outside, to further cut its electricity usage. The franchised property is owned and operated by Carmelo Grisafi and Ralph Biamonte.

Park brass will tell Cochrane to take a hike

Published
by
Graham
on July 26, 2007
in Niagara Falls Events and Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From the Niagara Gazette:

High wire performer Jay Cochrane still dreams of one day walking across the Niagara Gorge.

It won’t happen.

Cochrane, 63, a North Bay, Ontario, native, has been walking twice daily this summer between two 20-story towers near the Skylon Tower. Children’s charities are benefiting from the dramatic crossings, he explains.

Cochrane is bound to encounter stiff opposition, however, from the parks agencies along both sides of the Niagara River when he applies for permission.

“We’re really not interested in any type of stunting near the falls,” said Mark Thomas, the new regional director of the state parks commission. (That rules out any chance for him to start or end the walk in the state park.)

New IMAX mural

Published
by
Graham
on July 26, 2007
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 1 Comment

While I was watching Jay Cochrane last week, I noticed a mural on the back of the IMAX Theatre that I hadn’t seen before. I don’t really go down that section of Fallsview Blvd that often, so I’m not sure how long it has been there for, but it’s definitely new this year. The mural shows scenes from the movie.

20070718_imax_mural.jpg