SeaWorld San Antonio is a 250-acre (100 ha) marine mammal park, oceanarium, and animal theme park, in the Westover Hills District of San Antonio, Texas on the city's west side. It is the largest of the three parks in the SeaWorld chain owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, and the world's largest marine-life theme park. The other SeaWorld parks are in San Diego, California, and Orlando, Florida. It is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
Video SeaWorld San Antonio
History
The park, initially called Sea World of Texas, was developed by Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Built for $170 million, it opened on May 27, 1988 and 75,000 people attended the opening. It had 3.3 million visitors in its first 12 months of operation, placing it among the Top 10 attractions in Texas. At the time of its debut, it was billed as "the largest educational, marine-life theme park in the world."
In 1989, Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich (heavy in debt and fighting a hostile takeover) sold its SeaWorld and Boardwalk and Baseball theme parks to Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Plans to build a second Boardwalk and Baseball park adjacent to Sea World San Antonio were abandoned.
On November 26, 1988, Kayla (stage named "Baby Shamu") was the first killer whale born at the park. She now resides at SeaWorld Orlando.
Under Anheuser-Busch ownership, the park closed less popular attractions such as the Texas Walk, the U.S. Map Plaza, and the Garden of Flags and added its Budweiser Clydesdales to the park.
In 2008, Anheuser-Busch merged with InBev; soon after, the newly merged company sold the SeaWorld parks to Blackstone Group.
In March 2016, SeaWorld Entertainment announced that the current generation of killer whales at it parks would be the last. SeaWorld San Antonio currently houses 5 killer whales. It was also announced that the theatrical killer whale shows would be phased out and replaced with more naturalistic Orca Encounters. SeaWorld San Antonio's Orca Encounter is expected to open sometime in 2019.
Maps SeaWorld San Antonio
Attractions
Roller coasters and thrill rides
Animal inventory
Killer whales
SeaWorld's killer whales are housed in the Shamu Theater. A female orca, Unna, died on December 21, 2015.
Beluga whales
On April 17, 2011, Imaq, an adult male beluga from the Vancouver Aquarium, arrived at the park on a breeding loan. This is the third of three beluga whales on a breeding loan from the Vancouver Aquarium to the park: Nanuq, Allua, and Imaq.
In 2009, Nico, Maris, and Natasha from the Georgia Aquarium were moved to the park temporarily to keep them away from the worst of the noise during construction at the aquarium. Nico died on October 31, 2009. A preliminary necropsy was unable to determine if his death was caused by the move or by something else. On March 3, 2010, Maris and a new male, Beethoven, were returned to the Georgia Aquarium while Natasha was paired with a potential mate and remained at the park.
On July 9, 2013, Luna gave birth to a male calf, sired by Imaq. On July 26, 2013, Crissy gave birth to a female calf, also sired by Imaq. She was named Stella, but on November 13, 2015, she died. On June 20, 2015, Martha gave birth to a female calf.
Aquatica
Aquatica is a water park that was formerly a section of the park under the name, Lost Lagoon, which opened in 1993 and closed on September 5, 2011 to be replaced by Aquatica San Antonio, a separate gated water park based on the original Aquatica Orlando. The new park opened on Memorial Day weekend May 2012.
Attendance
References
External links
- Media related to SeaWorld San Antonio at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- SeaWorld San Antonio at the Roller Coaster DataBase
Source of article : Wikipedia
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