A lovely day out with a few things to think about 🦜🐬

We had a really enjoyable visit to Loro Parque. The park itself is beautiful, very clean and well maintained, with lots to see and do. All of the presentations we watched — the dolphins, sea lions and orcas — were really good and clearly very well organised. We skipped the bird show, but the ones we did see were enjoyable and entertaining. I was particularly interested in seeing the orcas because of my interest in Tilikum and I wanted to see his offspring in Tenerife. However, I was under the impression that the orca show had stopped completely and that it had changed to more of an educational presentation. If I had known beforehand that it would still involve the orcas performing tricks, I personally wouldn’t have chosen to watch it. Although it was described as a “presentation”, there were still elements of the orcas doing behaviours that felt more like a traditional show, which wasn’t what I expected. I also found it concerning to learn that an orca was born there as recently as last year. I had always understood that breeding orcas in captivity was no longer something that happened, so this did make me question current practices. Personally, I feel that if breeding orcas in captivity is still allowed, it is something that should be reconsidered. One thing I did appreciate was that the trainers didn’t get into the water with any of the animals, which felt like a more respectful approach. There were lots of fun little extras too — we bought a hat for just €1, which was a laugh, and a teddy bear souvenir for €17. We also received a lovely keepsake sticker for our car, which was a really nice touch. Parking was very easy as we arrived first thing, and I’d definitely recommend doing this to make the most of your visit. Overall, we had a great day at Loro Parque and it was a memorable experience. 🐬