The Believe show ran for about 5 years and was an absolute favorite for me. The relationship between the trainers and the killer whales in the water was inspiring. Unfortunately, the Believe show was significantly changed following a tragic accident that killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. While I did not know Dawn personally, I had watched her perform the show numerous times and always admired the undeniable passion she had for her work. Her love of the whales was even more evident during the original Shamu Rocks.
We will probably never see trainers in the water with the whales at SeaWorld again - and that is so disappointing. It is so hard for me to watch the new performances without comparing them to the days when trainers were allowed in the water.
One Ocean did allow the trainers to step inside the front ledge of the whale pool (shown above) to interact with the whales - mostly giving commands and rewarding with fish.
Overall, One Ocean is a very good show - much better than the re-formulated (no trainers in the water) Believe show. However, a good part of the show now takes place at ground level in front of the pool and at the front ledge. Because of this, if you don't have a good seat, it is very difficult to see the whole performance.
To compensate for the lack of trainers in the pool, One Ocean places a LOT of emphasis on splashing the audience. Also, multiple whales jump at the same time instead of just one or two at a time. You can see 4 in the photo below:
I hope that, in time, SeaWorld will find a way to make it safe for both the whales and trainers to interact again in the pool.
Three things made this particular visit unique for us:
- Instead of immediately exiting after the show, we allowed the crowds to disperse and watched the whales have so much fun sliding back and forth over a raised platform that joins the performance pool and holding tank. They really seemed to find it challenging and enjoyable.
- One of the trainers looks very much like my husband. We first saw his image in a promotional photo for One Ocean and then saw him during the performance we watched. We even took a photo of the photo and tricked some friends. I was hoping to get a picture of them together, but the trainers were getting ready for Shamu Rocks.
- As we started making our way down the stairs to exit, a squirrel fell many, many feet from the rafters directly in front of us. One or two more steps and he would have fallen directly on us. The poor thing. The squirrel's fall made such a loud splat. I screamed - and couldn't quite process what had happened at first. Suddenly the mound of fur in front of us jumped up and ran. I sure hope he was OK. We watched him for several minutes. While shaken, all limbs appeared to be working and he was moving quickly.
Also, arrive early for a good seat. During Believe, the pre-show included lots of song and cameras placed on guests dancing and having a good time. I found it very entertaining. They dropped that and now encourage guests to text their name to have it appear on screen with their preferred sea creature. I was bored by it...