I'm Baaaaaaack

So I've been back in Baton Rouge for a week and man is it great to be back home with my family and friends. My last day of work was last Sunday and it was very sad to leave. I was excited to get back here to LSU but as the gate closed on me for the last time for about 9 months, I did feel a twinge of sadness. I definitely miss the whales and the people I work with.

The drive back to Baton Rouge that Monday was a tough one. My small Saturn was packed and the dogs were cramped together in the passenger seat. I caught a lot of traffic and rain but I knew the prize at the end of the road was well worth it!

A few days before I left, I got to go play with the other animals around the park and take pictures with them. Chuck, the guy who hired me and runs the Viva show, let me interact a lot with our Pacific White Sided dolphins and Beluga whales. That was really incredible. I also got to do a few roles in their show! The next day I headed over to Sea Lion, Walrus, and Otter stadium and got to hang with some of them.

As part of your last day you get to take cool pictures with the whales so I got to take mine with Keet. We also do Dining with Shamu and I got to do a couple of the talks for that which was a lot of fun.

So I realized that I matured a lot over this summer. It's kind of weird because I don't ever want to grow up and I didn't realize my maturing at all while I was there. I notice a difference now that I'm back though and I'm trying to get used to it. Haha. I noticed a few other things changed about me this summer too:

- I make my bed every morning now

- I eat Sonic like it's no one's business

- I am a Pepsi man now

- It was the first time I had ever felt homesick

- I clean impulsively now and can never look at anything shaped like a bucket again

- I pursued my dream, the one thing that truly makes me happy

- I lost 12 pounds, and no, not on purpose

- I find it weird to be in a pool that's not 50 degrees, salt water, and not be wearing a wetsuit

- I was robbed for the first time

- I got to witness and Beluga whale birth and take a small part in raising her

So good news!! Not only did I have an unforgettable summer, buuuuut, I get to do it ALL again because THEY ASKED ME BACK! Very, very amazing that I'll actually be working at SeaWorld for hopefully the rest of my life (as long as everything goes well). I just keep pinching myself, I can't believe it.

I re-read my blogs from this whole summer and it's funny to see how excited I was to leave and then immediately was so homesick. I kept saying how I still couldn't believe that I was actually working my dream job, and the thing is, I still can't believe it. It's just unbelievable, I'm sure I'll be pinching myself for many years to come.

So for those of you in San Antonio, I'll update you on what my life is like in Baton Rouge. Here I am a Senior Kinesiology major focusing on Sports Studies and minoring in Business. I am taking 16 hours this semester which is a pretty good load. I live in an apartment with 3 of my best friends Brent, Chris, and Cody and my two dogs Boomer and Sadie. I am the coach of University Lab Middle School and University High School swim teams. On the weekends we tailgate and go crazy for LSU Football (you just wouldn't understand it unless you're here).

Two Weeks and Counting!

So it's amazing to me that this summer is almost over. It feels like it was just yesterday that I had a countdown for when I was leaving Baton Rouge for San Antonio and a fantastic summer at SeaWorld, and now I have a countdown to go BACK to Baton Rouge.

The past few weeks have been very busy and very fun. Definitely getting used to the daily routine of being an apprentice trainer at Shamu. Lots and lots of hard work but it's hard to complain when the rewards are so great.

Lately, we've been getting a lot of interaction time with the whales. First, we got to do a scuba play time with the whales. We suit up in our scuba gear and then hop in one pool and there's a massive 6,500lb whale on the other side of the gate and I get to throw fish to him. It's incredible. Yes it's very obvious how big they are all the time, but when you're less than a foot from them and their massive mouth, wow. Breathtaking.

It's always cool to be able to feed a whale. At the end of the day after our last show we feed out their dinner. Sometimes they allow the apprentices to feed during that time. I got to feed Ky which was just great. Seems like such a simple, boring thing, but it's really quite incredible.

The BEST thing I've done so far this summer was a recent relate session with Takara. The reason we're able to train killer whales and spend time in the water with these top predators of the ocean, is because we have such a strong relationship with them. They trust us. One way we build these relationships is through relate sessions. This time it consisted of a trainer John and I giving Takara about a 10 minute rub down. It was just amazing. It's funny, they're almost like dogs getting scratched. They move their body so that you're rubbing just the riiiight spot. Haha.

It's weird. I think I'd be used to these animals because I work with them everyday. But being so close to Takara and rubbing her down really made me realize how majestic and beautiful these animals are. I was having a relate session with a 4,500 KILLER WHALE. Just beautiful.

Since I last wrote, Chris and Donut came and visited! Chris and his parents came and I got to show them around the park and go backstage. They got to rubdown and get kissed by a Beluga which they loved. It was a lot of fun showing them what I do! Donut came in for a brief visit during his Tour de Tejas and it was great to see him. We went to the park shortly to see a quick Shamu show and then went downtown to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk. It was really great to see my best friends and really got me excited to be back home and around everyone I love.

It's very, very weird that I'll be leaving soon. I'm definitely split 50/50. Half of me is very excited to be back in Baton Rouge, at LSU, football season, my best friends, people I love, my family, and just not being in Texas. Haha. The other half of me will absolutely miss the close friends I've made here, everything about SeaWorld, the dream job that I've finally achieved, and mostly the whales. Sounds funny but I've grown close to the whales. I miss them over the weekend! So it'll be sad when I won't see them for quite some time.

To close, I am very upset that I am missing STRIPES this year. The staff started training yesterday and their first session starts on Monday. I'm very sad that I won't be partaking in this amazing program this year. I wish all the leaders and soon-to-be STRIPErs the best of luck and I hope they have a fantastic time. :)

Until next time...

So Much Has Happened! So Little Time!

Yes I know, I know it's been quite some time. I realize that I lied to my thousands of readers when I said I'd be updating weekly. Do not fret! This one will be a long and thrilling one ;) Haha. 

So the Saturday before last, my family came in town! Unfortunately for them, their car's AC went out and it's sorta a hot drive between LA and TX. Anywho, they came to SeaWorld on Monday and Tuesday. I got to do opening lines for the show and of course my parents were beaming and telling everyone around them that that was their son. Haha. And surprisingly, my mom cried the whole time. After the show I got to take them backstage and show them around where I work and they got to touch Tuar!

Later that day, we visited Beluga Whale and Dolphin Stadium and they got to be kissed by a Beluga Whale which they loved. Then we went around the park and checked out the other shows etc. At Shamu Rocks Texas that night, the pre-show contains a dance contest to win a Shamu stuffed animal. Well usually they go down to two finalists, an older person and a kid, and the kid always wins. Well that night, Jonah made it in the final two, and beat a little girl. How proud he was. Haha. 

The rest of the week we kinda just explored San Antonio. We went downtown to shop and eat at the River Walk which is really nice. For the 4th we went shopping again and then went to SeaWorld that night to see Shamu a couple more times and see the fireworks.

Unfortunately they had to leave on Sunday and drive home in the blazing heat without an AC again. It was really, really great to have them here and show them what I do. It's weird that I'll only see them once this summer. Kind of sad!

I also had Kale and his family randomly visit me! It was really cool to see him! I complained to him about not being able to do STRIPES this year and he was like seriously? you play with whales everyday. That definitely helped me put things into perspective. Ha. 

Work itself has been going really great. I'm glad to feel like I am contributing member of the team and not just "the new guy" who can't do much. I feel like I'm doing a good job. I've been getting good compliments from my supervisors and Chuck, the head of the Viva show, who originally hired me. He says he hears that I'm doing a great job and to keep it up. So that's really promising!

Me and the other apprentices have gotten to feed out the last of their buckets after our last show of the day a couple times which was really awesome. You think something like that would be very simply but I am horrible at getting the small fish in the whales' mouths. I'm sure they are like great, I have the new guy. Haha. 

I'm realizing how quickly this summer, and with it this great experience, is coming to a close. It's weird. I tell people I'm 50/50 with how I feel right now. I miss Baton Rouge and people a lot but then I think about not going to work to play with whales everyday. And I think of the great friends I've met here. And I think about going to class. Haha. But I'm definitely ready to get back. Hopefully, I've done a good enough job that they will ask me back and I can move here permanently. Although the thought of that is horrifying right now. 

I do hope that my new SeaWorld friends will be visiting me in Baton Rouge! It'd be fun to have them there for a football weekend. It's very weird how split I am. At first, before I moved here, I was doubtful that I'd ever be back to Baton Rouge, then I moved here and realized how much I missed BR and the people there and couldn't wait to get back. Now I'm sort of, in a small way, starting a life here and enjoying it more and more here. It's definitely a good learning experience. A good experience because hell, I'm playing with whales. But also a good experience to show me how great I have it in BR, how amazing my friends are in BR, and how much I need to appreciate that every day during my last year.  My last year, man that's weird. Definitely going to have to enjoy this to the fullest. 

Will try to post another blog soon! Until then, miss you guys :D

 

The pictures are from our July 4th at SeaWorld and the Shamu Rocks Texas show!

I'm SORRY!

I know it's been forever! I've been very busy and honestly not too much worth blogging about going on. I've been working as much as they'll allow me to be there. Having a really good time and enjoying getting used to more and more and being able to contribute more every day. I've also spent more time hanging out with the Shamu people and other trainers. SeaWorld people are crazy fun and I love them haha!

SeaWorld also started the Summer Nights shows which are really great. Shamu's night show is "Shamu Rocks Texas" which is a really fun show. Lots of rock music, fire, and the whales just look so cool at night under spotlight. It's a really cool change of pace from our "Believe" show. 

So good news and bad news over the past two weeks. I'll start off with bad news so that we can end on the good news. 

A few days ago, I walk out to my car and find that it had been broken in to :(. My car was parked in the driveway, completely locked. Whoever it was used a slim jim to pop the lock and then stole my GPS and my book bag which had some SeaWorld stuff and my digital camera in it. I called the police but of course there's no chance of getting any of that back. It coulda been worse though, it's just stuff right?

Okay now the good news...we have a new baby!!! Below is an article from SeaWorld San Antonio's official blog about our new addition:

http://www.seaworldsanantonioblog.com/

Beluga Whale Born Last Night

June 13, 2009 by FranStephenson • 19 Comments » 

Crissy the beluga whale and her new calf

Crissy, a 25-year-old, 1,400-pound beluga whale, gave birth to a female calf at 5:45 p.m. last night in the main pool of SeaWorld San Antonio’s Beluga Stadium. The calf arrived at 5:45 p.m., after a short period of labor. She weighs approximately 90 pounds and is 4 feet, 7 inches long.

This is an exciting event for our team members and our guests, but the first days and weeks for a young beluga whale are critical.  SeaWorld’s Zoological Operations team monitors the mother and calf 24/7, watching for nursing behavior, regular respirations and other positive vital signs.

While mother and calf are bonding, “Viva!” Shows at the park’s Beluga Stadium will be cancelled temporarily.

We hope to hear from Chuck Cureau and his team as this story progresses.

For the community, Fran.

So that was a very cool experience! My family is coming in town for a week on Saturday so I'm very excited about that and them getting to see what I do. Still miss home and friends but trying to have fun here :) Update soon!!

Getting Settled In...

Hey Everybody! "Work" has been a lot of fun. I've been slowly progressing at the park with being able to do a little bit more and more everyday. It's still so surreal for me to drive into the SeaWorld parking lot, go through SeaWorld security with my SeaWorld ID, and then walk into Shamu stadium and say good morning to 5 killer whales. Am I dreaming?

It's been really nice getting closer to everyone at work, getting accustomed to what a day at work includes, and getting to know the whales' personalities. I really enjoy all of the people that I work with. The seasonals are all really fun and we make a really great team. The upper level trainers are all very knowledgeable and more than happy to answer a question or explain why something is done or not done. 

On that note, I've been hit with a bout of homesickness which was a little surprising for me! I guess it's very understandable since I moved somewhere completely new, 7 hours away from the life I had and my best friends. My work is great, the people here are great, but surprisingly, 3 weeks isn't long enough to build relationships like I had at home ;)! I've been doing my best to stay busy and understand that this is just for the summer, but after talking to a friend last night, I realized that this is good practice for after I graduate. Hopefully, SeaWorld will turn into a career and unfortunately, there is no SeaWorld in Baton Rouge. I'll need to get used to changing life circumstances. I just need to keep myself busy, enjoy the here and now, realize that I'll be back home in 3ish months, and to enjoy the hell out of this experience right now. It was really great talking to a close friend about it and realize that it wasn't just me and what I'm going through is completely normal. But still, I'm a Killer Whale Trainer at freaking SeaWorld. This is what I've wanted to do since I was 4 years old. How many people in their lives get to achieve their 4 year old dream?? 

So some cool things that have happened since my last post:

Late last week I got to touch my first whale! I know some of you may find that surprising but being an apprentice for only a couple weeks at the time, it was a huge deal. Everything, especially at Shamu stadium, is earned. I'm not getting thrown in the middle of everything, I have to slowly work my way up and earn privileges (which I like!). So Katie let me give Keet a pec rubdown which was so cool. AND later that day Leslie let me feed him and point him to a fish that he had missed. So very incredibly cool! 

Watching the shows, it's still great for me that I get chills down my spine every show as I realize that I've made it, I'm living my dream. I went to the park on one of my days off to check out the water park, rollercoasters, and other shows that I haven't been able to see yet. I was really relieved that the park hadn't lost its magic to me. I still loved it, thought the animals were amazing, and smiled like a 4 year old the whole time. Haha. 

Trainers at Shamu have to pass a second swim test (which I mentioned in an earlier blog). We have to dive in at one side of the pool, go down to the bottom (40ft) and come up on the other side of the pool. I was so nervous about it and had a lot of anxiety but I finally stop putting it off, sucked it up, and did it! I passed on my first try and was so relieved afterwards. Passing the swim test means you get your trainer whistle! And although I can't really use it for anything yet, it feels like a status symbol, like I'm really a trainer now. Haha!

Surprisingly, we all leave work very exhausted! Somehow running around in a wetsuit, carrying 4+ buckets of fish at a time weighing 30lbs each in the scorching TX heat makes you tired?? What? Haha. So after work, we don't really do too much. But we have been trying to be proactive with doing things outside of work. It was a couple of guys' birthdays that work in the entertainment part of the Shamu show this week so it was fun hanging out and meeting some new people. I am starting to get close to a few people that I work with which is really nice. Good to call them when I'm bored and just go explore San Antonio to find something to do. 

The pictures here are from a couple days ago. Had a little down time so I got to take some pictures to prove that I'm actually doing this! Haha. The whale's name is Keet (that's Russian for "whale") and he's playing with one of his toys in the picture above! Also, I'm going to be posting new blogs weekly. Not enough happens in one day to post every day but a good week recap should be interesting to read! Really miss you guys a lot! Thanks for keeping up with my summer, looking forward to hearing from ya!

Week Two and Still Have a Job!!

Man, I love my job. I really thought that it had hit me but I realized that I don't think it ever will. I'm so lucky to have a job that I've always wanted to do and that I completely love. Through these last two weeks, I've realized that this is absolutely something that I want to pursue and eventually make my career.

Over the past few days I've been getting to do a lot more! I got to do what's called a "slap" which is basically giving the whale the position of where to do the behavior. I was on stage and slapped for bows. The next second I had 3 huge killer whales jumping out of the water in front of me about 3 feet away. It was so cool.

We've also been getting to do a lot of play times with the whales. The whales love to eat ice and jello, get sprayed with the hose, watch us go under water and play around with them, etc. That's usually my favorite part of the day. I, and the other apprentices, love making up new fun things to do with the whales. I love when they are all at the glass watching us wondering what we're going to do next. 

I already got scuba certified but I had to get "SeaWorld Scuba Certified". It was really cool to go to the bottom of the pool and look at the gate and see Tikara just staring at me wondering what the hell I was doing at the bottom of her pool. 

I have really loved getting to know the whale's personalities. They are all so surprisingly different and fun in their own separate ways. Tikara is still my favorite right now though :) She's such a sweet little girl (well maybe not little) and is always watching us to see what the heck we are doing. 

The other day I got to go out into the crowd during the show and I was talking to this one kid who told me "That's what I want to do! I want your job!". It really hit home with me because I saw so much of myself in that kid. When I was young, I was the one in awe of the trainers, asking them what I needed to do to get their job. I just told him to do it and to never get up if that's what he really wanted to do. I think that moment will always stick with me.

The seasonal crew and I have really gotten close. I am lucky to really like all of the people I work with. I'm glad since we spend so much time at work together! We are planning a dinner tomorrow night so that'll be really fun to hang out with each other outside of work.

Again, I just can't believe how lucky I am to have this great experience. Yes it's a lot of hard work, yes I come home exhausted, yes I work long days, but dammit I love it. I have such a blast when I'm there, I spend all day with 5 killer whales and a whole crew of fun people and great trainers. I can hardly call this a job. I am living my dream...

Man I'm Having Fun!!

So today ended my sixth day as a Killer Whale Apprentice Trainer and wow, I can't believe that this is my job! My days start early and last long but the entire time I am in awe that I am living my dream. 

The past few days have been a lot of fun! I am trying to keep up and learn more so that I am better able to help out around the pool. I'm getting to know the staff better and everyone's so much fun! They are all very fun, nice, and helpful in trying to get me caught up. As far as getting around San Antonio, I know how to get from my house to SeaWorld and back and that's it. Haha. Thank God for my GPS. But the city is a lot more hilly than I thought which makes for really nice scenery. It's a really clean city. What I DON'T like is that there are no sno-ball stands and no Qdoba's :(. I think I'll be okay though :D

Saturday I had New Employee Orientation. I was the only Animal Trainer in the class so it was fun to talk to everyone else about what I get to do. We got to do a tour of the park and I finally got my uniform, name tag, and belt! We get to put whatever we want under our name on our nametag, so I put "LSU Tiger". Gotta rep that BR!! (Sorry about the backwards picture!)

Sunday was a really fun day because I was in my first Shamu show ever. There's a part where a few trainers stand on a bridge at the back of the pool and clap to the song. So I got to go up and the camera came on us and I could see myself and the other trainers on the big screen and wow. I just smiled from ear to ear because I just couldn't believe that I was there. Yea it wasn't a really big part in the show, but dreaming of this for 16 years and then seeing myself up there, it's a big deal for me. 

Today was a little more laid back because we don't have any shows so we got to have a lot more sessions with the whales and a couple play times with them. We got to dance with big stuffed animals in front of them and then jump in the pool next to them and throw them fish. Very surreal to be 3ft from an 8,000lb whale!!!

So it feels good to learn more and more every day and be allowed to help out more. I'm excited to learn and contribute even more! Miss all you guys back in BR!!

P.S. - I misspelled the names of the whales in an earlier post so here are the corrections:

Boys - Kyuquot, Tuar, and Keet

Girls - Takara and Unna