Discovery Cove and Seaworld, Orlando FL

Discovery Cove is an extension of Seaworld Orlando, located adjacent to the main park.  This attraction is an all inclusive package which gives you unlimited use of the park and we purchased the dolphin swim package which is about 30 minutes in the lagoon with a small group of dolphins.  Although you are not allowed to take your camera into the lagoon with you when you are interacting with the dolphins, they have people photographing and videotaping the experience that you can purchase later.  After our dolphin swim we waded in a pool full of approximately 40 rays which allows you to get up close and personal and touch these velvety soft creatures.   The lagoon next to it allowed us to snorkel with tropical fish and rays.  Parts of this pool were 15 feet deep.  You also can swim right up to sharks and barraudas which are behind glass.  The main place that we took photos was a large free flight aviary which housed many species of tropical birds from all over the world and native Florida species like the Spoon bills which could be approached and photographed.

We would highly recommend this experience to anybody going to the Orlando area.  All food, drinks . snacks, snorkel and wetsuits are included, as well as admission to Seaworld or Busch Gardens.  The staff was extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

We spent the next two days at Seaworld, both seeing shows and participating in their animal interactive programs.  The 1st day we participated in the Beluga Whale Training session.  We were able to sit in the frigid (48 degree) water in full wetsuits and booties and touch these soft, spongy huge whales.  These whales were described as feeling like balloons with peanut butter inside.  We also went on a behind the scenes tour of Seaworld, normally 25 people were scheduled.  Fortunately for us, we were the only 2 that showed up for this timeslot and were taken on an exclusive tour of the marine mammal rescue area, a horned shark encounter and a chance to pet a penguin.  We also did the tourist thing and went to most of the whale, dolphin shows as well as photographing the marine mammals at various exhibits in the park. The Shamu show was extremely impressive!

One of our customers is an orchid grower, which provides us with another great opportunity to photograph plants that you would not normally see in the wild even in the native location of these orchids.  Many cities have flower shows at different times of the year which makes for another local event to capture images.  One thing that we have found that is necessary for flower photography is that you need to find some local identification guides since many of the species are almost impossible to tell apart without a guide.  If you plan to sell or publish your images it is essential to have the latin name of at least the genus of the plant species along with the common name.

Note,the animal interactions are a great thing to do.