If there's a whale, there’s a way

On October 27, 2001 I went to attend a family reunion in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. It was attended by one great grand-aunt, 12 grandparents, 42 uncles and aunts, and 32 cousins! My family and I arrived in Subic at 10:30 a.m. and the reunion started with a Mass and then lunch.

Afterwards, we went to a marine park called Ocean Adventure where you could watch a whale show, a sea lion show, or you could also swim with the whales. I was very excited when I found out that my parents were going to let me swim with the whales! First, I was brought to the shore of the Encounter Cove. Then I rode a raft to deeper waters where the whales were kept. There I met the false killer whales (pseudorca whales). Unlike real killer whales, which attack and kill large whales, these whales only eat fish and squid.

During my whale encounter, I had a chance to swim with two whales. The older one was Pounder and the younger one was Coral. Pounder was nine years old and was the oldest whale the park had. She was also blind in one eye. Coral was seven years old and was the youngest whale in the park. There were two other whales which I did not meet. Their names were Tonka and Hook. Tonka is the only male in the park, while Hook is a female. After I met the whales, I was taught how to give them a hand signal, and I got a surprise as the whales swam away then came back and splashed me! After the whales did the trick correctly, I gave them a fish.

The next thing I did was to dance with Pounder. To do this I had to hold the whale’s front flippers and wrap my legs around her body. Then she started spinning around with me still holding on to her! It was lots of fun but it was also very dizzying. After I danced with Pounder, I rode on her! All I had to do was to hold on to the Pounder’s dorsal fin, then the trainer gave her a hand signal and off we went! She can swim really fast. Then she flipped over, and this time, I rode on her belly by holding on to her front flippers.

Finally, I was taught to give the hand signal for the whale to speak. After every hand signal the trainer blew a whistle to tell the whale she did something right. Then she would reward the whale with a fish or a squid. I spent a few more minutes playing with Coral and Pounder, then I went back to shore.

It was really a great experience for me. One day, I hope to study how to take care of animals and I hope to get a job where I can help make the world a better place for animals. In the meantime, I look forward to my next visit to Ocean Adventure. Hopefully, next time I will have a chance to swim with the dolphins!

* * *

The author, Aeon Mapa, is 12 years old and a Grade 6 student at the Manila Waldorf School. He is a PADI-certified Open Water Diver. The Ocean Adventure marine park is located at Camayan Wharf in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. They may be contacted at 047-252-90-00, 892-52-19 and 892-52-31.