December 10, 2011 was planting day for the campers at Busch Gardens Tampa. For the last three years, as part of the park’s summer camp program, campers have been helping raise hundreds of their own salt marsh plants, all species native to the Tampa Bay estuary.

Only one breed of bear calls the dense jungles of South America home – the Spectacled Bear.  These shy creatures are rarely seen and have become listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List.  Although population data is sketchy, some estimates suggest that fewer than 3,000 spectacled bears may remain in the wild today.  The reasons for their disappearance are many – poaching, destruction of their habitat, and being killed by farmers as agricultural pests.

Adorable arctic foxes can be found at SeaWorld San Diego's Wild Arctic attraction.

Conservation is once again the big winner!  SeaWorld San Diego continued its support of conservation and animal protection efforts in Southern California with its donation of nearly $5,000 ($4,812.02 to be exact!) to the San Diego chapter of the Conservation Fund. 

American alligators are featured at SeaWorld San Diego's Animal Connections.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and the Cahoon Elementary Magnet School of Animal Science have teamed up to provide students with a innovative, year-long program that will challenge children to strategize solutions regarding some of our world’s greatest conservation challenges. The project is called “Conservation Matters” and allows children to apply the abstract knowledge of Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Science directly to real-life conservation challenges.

Cuteness plus!!!!

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Vice President of Veterinary Services, Dr. Chris Dold, was on site at the new Cetacean Rehabiliation Facility at SeaWorld Orlando to provide an update on how the newest resident, once-stranded pilot whale 301, is doing in her new home.

Today is World Ocean Day. Millions of concerned citizens from around the world are doing what they can to help the world's waterways. No matter where we live, the ocean is our life support system, providing much of the food, water and oxygen we need to survive. And while the ocean is vast, it's not without limits.  Pollution, overfishing and overdevelopment are just a few of the hazards threatening the bounty that many take for granted.

How is SeaWorld lending a hand?