When I was a kid, I remember going on a school trip to Marineland. It was a lot like Seaworld only cheaper and closer! They had dolphin shows and all kinds of cool exhibits. Years went by, I moved to Iowa, then back to Florida, then to Indiana. Recently my best friend from Iowa (Not Nichole!) and I were planning a trip to Florida. We were picking up puppies (and a kitty for me) from a friend. Spending a week in the sunshine and then driving home. On Thursday this friend said she mailed me a package for my birthday. On Thursday night, someone posted a link to an article about the oldest dolphin in captivity Nellie dieing at age 61. I thought to myself, "Wow, I haven't thought about Marineland in ages, I didn't even know they were still going, let me look them up!" So I did, and I found that they are not at all like they used to be! Instead they now focus on Dolphin research, and also offer a selection of activities to interact with the dolphins. I looked over each and decided in that moment to make that vacation special for both my friend and I. I booked us a 15 minute visit with a dolphin, during which time we would get a painting done by them! I was excited! I couldn't wait to tell my friend. She laughed when I told her and I didn't quite understand until my package arrived on Saturday. It contained a dolphin figurine on a mirror base that lights up, a dolphin bracelet, and a my little pony figure with a dolphin on it's side!! Wow, talk about great minds thinking alike! So, on August 6th at 9 am, we showed up to Marineland ready for an adventure! We spent 15 minutes with the dolphin (1 dolphin for each of us we had separate encounters) during which time we got a painting done by the dolphin, got to touch and feed the dolphins and got lots of pictures and information about them! It was super exciting! My dolphin's name was Chubby and everyone said he was the best painter they had! My friend got to work with Betty. I will provide links at the bottom with information about what we did. But first, pictures!
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| Chubby painting my painting. They use a brush on the end of the foam thing. |
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| Toni getting her painting done! |
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| Finished product! |
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| Toni's finished product! |
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| Holding the dolphin by it's tail! |
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| Toni shaking flippers! |
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| Feeding him fish pieces (my hands stunk for days despite the repeated washing!) |
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| Toni holding the tail! |
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| Betty waving goodbye! |
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| Waving hands over your head makes them spin in circles! |
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Here is a list of the dolphin's they had (slightly outdated as it still lists Nellie!)
Here is a link to the website if you want more information on pricing (ours was called Dolphin Design)
And here is a link to the article about Nellie's death.
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