SAN DIEGO — A new ride at Seaworld San Diego has a bigger mission than just giving riders a thrill.
Zoological specialist Cathy Stull said the beautiful white color of Beluga whales is one of their most enchanting characteristics. She said she finds new ways to be amazed by them every day.
“Even my friends from first grade say they can’t believe I’m here because they knew this was my favorite animal,” Stull said. “So I feel so lucky every day to get to share it and just get to play with them.”
Stull is one of the trainers and caretakers for Klondike and Ferdinand, two Belugas who live at SeaWorld San Diego. Stull said each Beluga can make dozens of unique vocalizations, earning the species the nickname “canaries of the sea.”
Beluga whales are facing many challenges in the wild: pollution, harmful interactions with commercial and recreational fisheries, oil and gas exploration, as well as the melting of sea ice due to climate change.
“So you can see with that white color, ice is their main form of camouflage,” Stull said. “Their predators are killer whales and polar bears, so without that sea ice to really blend in, it can be a little more dangerous for them.”
To bring attention to the dangers Beluga whales and other animals face, Paige Brockman helped design and bring to life Arctic Rescue, the fastest and longest straddle coaster on the West Coast.
“So the seats are supposed to kind of look like a snowmobile,” Brockman explained. “It’s a straddle coaster, so you can hold on to the handlebars. You can ride it as if you’re riding a snowmobile.”
Brockman said it has been a dream of hers to design a roller coaster since she was a kid and this ride is inspired by the heroic efforts of the SeaWorld Rescue Team and Alaska SeaLife Center.
At the end of the ride, visitors will come face-to-face with some of the most iconic arctic animals, and Brockman said that’s a purposeful design choice.
“Being able to do your little mission and then come in here and learn more about them, I think it really brings the story together,” she said.
Stull is excited that the new attraction will bring awareness to the threats facing the animals she loves.
“One of the biggest hopes is just that guests not only get to learn about the impact that everything is having, like climate change is having on the wild; but then they get to see the animals that it’s affecting and hopefully be inspired to make a change,” she said.
SeaWorld San Diego partners with the nonprofit rescue and research facility Alaska SeaLife Center for the opening of Arctic Rescue, and also on the rescue and rehabilitation of Alaskan animals including seals, sea lions, Belugas, otters and walruses.