APRIL 2012
ESSAY CONTEST FOR KIDS: In an effort to foster greater understanding of the marine world, SeaWorld San Diego is inviting third and fourth grade students in Southern California elementary schools to participate in its “Write the Ray” Essay Contest. The essay must cultivate awareness about the diversity of rays, the threats many ray species face in the wild and how we can help these graceful creatures. Each class can submit an essay which will be judged on content, accuracy, originality and enthusiasm. The winning classroom will receive a VIP student experience at SeaWorld San Diego and other prizes. The VIP experience will include a behind-the-scenes tour of SeaWorld and, depending on availability, the chance to ride SeaWorld’s new double-launch coaster, Manta (which opens May 26, 2012). Manta is a mega-attraction double-launch coaster and a 100,000-gallon aquarium featuring dozen of rays and hundreds of fishes. The SeaWorld “Write the Ray” contest is under way now; all entries must be postmarked by April 30. For more details visit www.SeaWorldWriteTheRayEssay.com.
POLE TO POLE FUN RUN RESISTRATION: Registration is now open for SeaWorld’s Pole to Pole Inaugural 5K Fun Run, scheduled for Saturday, April 28 at 7 a.m. Benefitting Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI), guests will be able to stroll by sea lions, dash by dolphins or waddle past penguins as they support conservation efforts from the North to the South Pole. Visitors age three and up need to register on line in order to participate. Children under three are free. The cost of the Fun Run is $25 per person prior to the event and $35 per person event day. Packet pickup will be race day from 6 to 6:45 a.m. at the park’s Education gate at the east side of the parking lot. Participants will receive a T-shirt, raffle opportunities for fabulous prizes and discounted race-day admission for up to six people. To register or learn more about SeaWorld’s Inaugural Pole to Pole 5K Fun Run, visit http://SeaWorldParks.com/PoletoPoleFunRun or call (800) 25-SHAMU.
SEAWORLD CHOSEN AS RECYLCER OF THE YEAR: SeaWorld San Diego has been selected as one of the “Recycler’s of the Year” from the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department for waste reduction and recycling programs. The awards ceremony will take place at the San Diego Zoo on Friday, April 20, 2012 with Mayor Jerry Sanders presenting the awards. In 2011 SeaWorld’s culinary operations department recycled a record 389.4 tons of food scraps with no loads rejected by the landfill l; the Landscaping department recycled a record 277.45 tons of greenery with no loads rejected by the landfill; cardboard recycling rates were up 16% with 386.2 tons of material recycled; and the Manta construction project recycled more than 3, 514 tons of mixed materials.
SEAWORLD AT EARTHFAIR 2012: SeaWorld will show San Diegans what the park’s Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program is all about during the 22nd annual EarthFair in Balboa Park, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 22. Some of the park’s animal care specialists will be on hand to talk about how SeaWorld rescues an average of 200 stranded sea lions, seals, pelicans and other marine species each year, giving a second chance to animals that would otherwise not survive. The interactive booth will include a game that illustrates how ocean animals get injured by items such as fishing hooks and plastic trash bags and kids will also get to see SeaWorld’s rescue truck. San Diego’s EarthFair in Balboa Park is the largest free annual environmental fair in the world. For more information, visit www.earthdayweb.org.
SEAWORLD HELPS WITH COASTLINE CLEANUP: SeaWorld will join volunteers from all over the county for this year’s I Love a Clean San Diego’s Creek to Bay Cleanup, 9 a.m. to noon, April 28. As one of the site captains of the event, SeaWorld will oversee the cleaning of the Mission Bay-South Shores Boat Launch. Last year, 5,350 volunteers spanned out across 75 coastal and inland cleanup sites throughout San Diego County, removing 80 tons of debris. SeaWorld’s participation is part of the park’s Green Week 2012 activities. For more information, or to register for the Creek to Bay Cleanup, visit www.creektobay.org.
