As you prepare to stick to your resolutions for the new year, we wanted to share a few that we learned from our animals at SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica, and

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.

Today was our biggest event - we had almost 400 students in this school alone. It was Conservation Day and they took it very seriously.  There was a parade with a band, cheerleaders, and an overall excitement from the whole community. Prepping juice boxes, snacks and prizes for all the different contests was challenging - we had to make a few trips from the hotel just to get everything there - luckily, it was the closest school we visited.

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. 

SeaWorld Orlando is using a custom orthopedic brace to care for once-stranded pilot whale.  The whale has scoliosis – or curvature of the spine – that prevents her from swimming normally.

Our animal care team’s duties revolve around the three R’s: Rescue, Rehabilitate and Return.  Recently the three R’s were in action at SeaWorld San Diego.

In mid-October, SeaWorld rescued a sub-adult male California sea lion on a San Diego beach.  The following day, the team rescued an adult female harbor seal on another nearby beach.  Both animals had fishing line around their neck that had cut quite deeply into their flesh.  It took SeaWorld’s rescue team a while to rescue the harbor seal, as she was quite strong and of good size.

Three times each day, a team of animal experts at SeaWorld Orlando perform hands-on, physical therapy on a once-stranded pilot whale. "300" has scoliosis, or a curvature of the spine.