The Ol' Dolphin & Sea Lion Show

A couple weeks ago, Nana and I took a boat out to Marine World, an aquarium in Uminonakamichi, the narrow spit of land that forms the far side of Hakata Bay. Nana wants to say more about the aquarium in an upcoming post, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to share some shots from the dolphin & sea lion stunt show, which serves as further proof that "animals doing cool, adorable things" is a universal language.

The show, which was included in the price of admission, was fairly standard fare, which didn't make it any less cool. I did like how they shook up the usual "sea-lions-balance-balls-on-their-noses" routine.

Yes, that last one was a naked Kewpie doll standing on one foot.

I also liked how, unlike most such shows in the US, which seem to use mainly bottlenosed dolphins, four species were represented at Marine World: a Pacific common dolphin, a bottlenosed dolphin, a pilot whale, and another pilot-whale-ish thing whose name I can't remember.

The Pacific dolphin was especially cool: a quick, tiny little thing, it seemed to hang in the air forever at the top of its jumps.

They also had a fun "volleyball" segment, where the dolphin launched a big, soft ball into the stands.

After the show, we wandered around to some of the training tanks in the back of the aquarium, where they were teaching a pair of Pacific dolphins some new tricks. Great opportunity for some up-close videos!