SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Antonio is a marine mammal park, oceanarium and animal theme park in the Westover Hills District of San Antonio, Texas, on the city’s west side. It is the largest of the three parks in the SeaWorld chain owned by SeaWorld Entertainment and one of the world's largest marine-life theme parks focused on conservation, education and animal rescue. The other SeaWorld parks are in San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida. It is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
History
The park, initially called Sea World of Texas, was developed by Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich. Built for $170 million, it opened on May 27, 1988 and 75,000 people attended the opening. It had 3.3 million visitors in its first 12 months of operation, placing it among the Top 10 attractions in Texas. At the time of its debut, it was billed as "the largest educational, marine-life theme park in the world."In 1989, Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich sold its SeaWorld and Boardwalk and Baseball theme parks to Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Plans to build a second Boardwalk and Baseball park adjacent to Sea World San Antonio were abandoned.
On November 26, 1988, Kayla was the first killer whale born at the park. At the time of her death on January 28, 2019, she resided at SeaWorld Orlando.
Under Anheuser-Busch ownership, the park closed less popular attractions consisting of the Texas Walk, Cypress Gardens West, Joplin Square, U.S. Map Plaza, and the Garden of Flags and added its Budweiser Clydesdales to the park.
In 2008, Anheuser-Busch merged with InBev; soon after, the newly merged company sold the SeaWorld parks to Blackstone Group.
In March 2016, SeaWorld Entertainment announced that the current generation of killer whales at it parks would be the last. SeaWorld San Antonio currently houses 5 killer whales. It was also announced that the theatrical killer whale shows would be phased out and replaced with more naturalistic Orca Encounters. SeaWorld San Antonio's Orca Encounter is expected to open sometime between 2020 and 2021.
Attractions
Roller coasters and thrill rides
| # | Name | Opened | Description | Image |
| 1 | 2017 | An Intamin double-launch coaster based on SeaWorld's animal rescue team. | ||
| 2 | The Great White | 1997 | The park's first coaster, a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster that debuted in 1997. Top speed of. It is the first roller coaster of its kind in Texas. Lift height is 108.2 ft. The total track length is 2,562 ft. | |
| 3 | Steel Eel | 1999 | It is a Chance/Morgan coaster. It is 150 ft tall, 3,700 ft long, has no inversions, a top speed of 65 mph and a capacity of 1,200 riders per hour. | |
| 4 | Texas Stingray | 2020 | The tallest, longest, and fastest wooden coaster in Texas. | |
| 5 | Journey to Atlantis | 2007 | The first ride of its kind in North America, it debuted in 2007. It is a combination of a roller coaster and log flume ride. | |
| 6 | Super Grover's Box Car Derby | 2004 | A Zierer kiddie roller coaster with cars themed as race cars. | |
| 7 | Rio Loco | 1993 | A river rapids ride. |
Animal inventory
Killer whales
SeaWorld's killer whales are housed in the Shamu Theater. There are currently 5 killer whales, Takara, Sakari, Kamea, Tuar, and Kyuquot.Beluga whales
On April 17, 2011, Imaq, an adult male beluga from the Vancouver Aquarium, arrived at the park on a breeding loan. This is the third of three beluga whales on a breeding loan from the Vancouver Aquarium to the park: Nanuq, Allua, and Imaq.In 2009, Nico, Maris, and Natasha from the Georgia Aquarium were moved to the park temporarily to keep them away from the worst of the noise during construction at the aquarium. Nico died on October 31, 2009. A preliminary necropsy was unable to determine if his death was caused by the move or by something else. On March 3, 2010, Maris and a new male, Beethoven, were returned to the Georgia Aquarium while Natasha was paired with a potential mate and remained at the park.
On July 9, 2013, Luna gave birth to a male calf, sired by Imaq. On July 26, 2013, Crissy gave birth to a female calf, also sired by Imaq. She was named Stella, but on November 13, 2015, she died. On June 20, 2015, Martha gave birth to a female calf. On September 16, 2019 2 female beluga whales Pearl, and Atla, were transferred from SeaWorld San Diego to SeaWorld San Antonio.
In 2020, SeaWorld San Antonio have 10 belugas : Crissy, Martha, Naluark, Luna, Atla, Pearl, Samson, Kenai, Innik and Tyonek.
Dolphins
SeaWorld have 19 bottlenose dolphins : Notchfin, Yoyo, Mattie, Ripley, Fathom, Brafy, Nikki, Sadie, Alice, Cisco, Neelee, Capri, Blyss, Koko, Haven, Yuri, Zip, Rimmy and Cooper.They also have 5 white sided pacific dolphins : Betty, Avalon, Hailey, Ohana and Bolt.