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Sunday, September 11, 2005
Shamus the whale, Berkeley the sea lion, and a pig
By Evelyn R. Luab
Light Sunday
THE crowd at Seaworld in San Diego was by the thousands. We were mostly tourists and students from summer camps. To think that it was a weekday.
The rides were terrifying, especially the high drive roller coasters but I suppose enjoyable to the young judging from their shrieks of fear and laughter.
I opted to see the shows. The first show we went into was the sea lions show. They were large compared to the sea lions we saw basking in the sunlight at Harbor Bay in San Diego.
These particular sea lions (there were two of them) were huge, intelligent and well trained. They communicated with their flippers, their loud barks and their facial expressions. Have you ever seen a sea lion kiss a so-called mermaid? I have! You will just have to imagine the naughty grin on its face as it clapped its flippers in an exuberant display of satisfaction. The sea lions were petted and fed after a well-executed order.
The next show, which impressed me, was that of Shamus, the whale. As Shamus playfully teased his two trainers in the water, I marveled at how a species belonging to the killer whales could be so gentle. How a heavy animal could swim at rapid speed then hurl himself out of the water in a tremendous leap is beyond me. This whale leaps out of the water with his tail and playfully soaks the audience in the “soak area.”
The trainers allowed a little boy to stroke Shamus’ back while an anxious father who watched with trepidation was playfully soaked with water by Shamus. As usual, every great performance by the whale was rewarded with loving pats and with food.
What really struck my heart at this show was a video showing American soldiers coming home from war-torn countries. A two-minute silence was asked from the audience to honor the soldiers. The veterans in the audience were asked to stand. They were acknowledged and given a round of applause.
We were told that the Seaworld always donates a portion of their proceeds to research centers for various ailments, like cancer, diabetes, HIV, etc.
The tickets were $40 for the entrance fee. Food and drinks were rather expensive. Lemonade was $2.99; soda, $2.50; popcorn, $3.50; and lunch for two, $35. For a worthy cause, people gladly paid.
The last show was the best for me. It was the lovable and hilarious pet show of dogs, cats, pigs and birds. We saw dogs competing with each other in a race, which demanded agility and speed. There were two cats walking the tightropes, scampering up poles or playing with dogs. Parrots fetched things from the audience.
If I hadn’t seen it, I couldn’t have believed that pigs could be trained to obey but the pig I saw was fantastic. It could run a narrow course of interlacing obstacles and come out without toppling the obstacles. It was told to pick out the garbage from the bin and it did.
I left this particular show pleasantly amazed with the words of the trainer still ringing in my ears. “Observe the potentials of these pets, heat them with much love and you will be amazed with this tremendous amount of love and loyalty they give back.”
Our Monty, Bruce, Techie, Venus (all dogs) have all passed away. There was so much love we received from them. They sometimes acted like us in more ways than one. Actually, Venus left us because she was jealous of a new puppy. She never came back.
I suppose this is the way of the world: People and pets will one day just leave and then it would be too late to tell them we love them or to kiss them goodbye.
Wives, husbands, daughters, sons, relatives and friends are actually higher in the scale of beings. Sometimes they are taken for granted and even in some rare instances disparaged. Others are even treated like animals. They are told to sit, to fetch, to roll over and even to play dead. How sad! Even dogs when kicked will die of broken hearts.
Pets and people have one thing in common. They love and need love. They, too, are mortals. One day they will be no more. The sad thing about life is that regret always comes as an afterthought. Today is our Lord’s Day. Remember? He said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” May I add, “Pet or otherwise?”
(September 11, 2005 issue)
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