[Marinland] A day with whales @ Marineland, Niagara Falls

Last weekend, we went to Waterloo, Ontario, via Buffalo, New York, mainly because of my officiating work as a line umpire, for the ITF Cooper Challenger in Waterloo. Mr. D and the boys spent good time to visit the Marineland, exhibition park for marine animals. I need to get ready for the Rogers Cup for which I got selected for the first time :). That's why I drove all the way to Laval, QC the weekend before, and Waterloo last weekend. I am very excited, but nervous at the same time. Now I'm glad to have been selected for the Women's tournament instead of Men's since the Men's balls are much harder and difficult to read. I'll be ready for Men's Rogers cup in a couple of years. :) So I am taking vacation to work for the week of Rogers Cup in August.

Revenons à nos moutons. (let's get back to the subject!)

(Pablo in 2008)

We had visited Marineland almost 5 years ago. Pablo was a toddler and Remi was a kindergartener. 

(Remi in 2008)

Since that time, my baby is not  a baby anymore, and my little kindergartener completed his grade 3. 

In 2008, there was a mother-child pair of killer whales, and the baby orca was amazingly cute. 

There was only one killer whale this time... Wondered where one went away.

Killer whale overwhelms with its size. I got stunned by its size when I saw it for the first time before my eyes. 

Killer whales are the largest extant members of the dolphin family. Males typically range from 6 to 8 metres (20 to 26 ft) long and weigh in excess of 6 tonnes (5.9 long tons; 6.6 short tons). Calves at birth weigh about 180 kg (400 lb) and are about 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long. (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_whale). Unlike dolphins or beluga whales, killer whales have such thick bodies which feature especially large and rounded paddle-like fins. 

Their robust fins give them extra strength and speed.

Oh, before going to see the killer whale, my guys went to see the dolphin show where dolphins demonstrated  great skills and smartness. 

As dolphins are well known as one of the most intelligent animals in the world, their ability to follow the instructions is something extraordinary.

Dolphin trainers communicate with their trainees so well that they exhibited a fantastic teamwork.

In spite of its lean and relatively small bodies, dolphins have great strength to carry a human male easily.

Beluga whale is strong enough to lift a human female with its jaws/beak.

Sea lions and seals appeared in the show. 

Personally I found them less attractive only because they were less beautiful compared to the handsome dolphins. 

But, it's true that they also were great entertainers.

Then, the highlight of the day was waiting for Remi and Pablo: Petting(?) zoo, so called 'feeding and touching beluga whales.' 

When you pay $9, you can feed three fish to a beluga whale and touch their pretty round heads. Fortunately, they are not afraid of the animals, or rather, they like animals. 

Therefore, they didn't have any issue feeding and touching beluga whales. I asked the kids how beluga whales felt. They said they felt very smooth and hard. 

You can tell they enjoyed so much!

At Marineland, you can go down the tunnels(?) to observe the whales underground from the observation window. 

Kids stood there and saw the whales as long as they wanted.

Oh, maybe the highlight was gift shop. Both my kids love stuffed animals. Each of their beds is filled with stuffed animals, but they still want more. Remi got a beluga whale while Pablo chose a killer whale. It's too bad that we didn't take any picture of the stuffed animals, just not yet. I'll upload when I take a few photos.

So, it was a fun-packed day for my boys, and hopefully for Mr. D as well.

I'll post about Buffalo, or food in Buffalo, soon. :)

Marineland