Monday, June 16, 2008

Iguana Action and the Dolphins

In addition to our dolphin and sea lion family, a variety of other animals consider DRC home. Cats, tropical birds, peafowl, and chickens roam the grounds, as do a number of iguanas. It’s not uncommon to see the reptiles crawling around on rocks, in mangrove bushes, or walking down the boardwalks – even in the sea lion habitat. Sometimes, they realize that the shortest distance between where they are and where they want to go is across one of the dolphin lagoons. The iguanas plunge in and start swimming, trying to reach the other side before the dolphins notice.

As if. Recently, we spotted Ras and Jax circling around an iguana while it swam. This might have been the first time Jax ever saw one of these strange-looking creatures, so his curiosity is understandable.

Trainer Jenn asked Santini to jump over one of the iguanas. Tina’s accustomed to jumping over her sisters, but this was a first. Up to the challenge, she executed a super long dive while the iguana continued to swim.

Pandora’s known for treating other animals like toys – such as baby nurse sharks. She’ll tuck them under her flippers or surf around with them on her stomach. When it comes to iguanas, however, she decided not to retrieve one as a playmate. Instead, like Aunt Santini, Pandora jumped over the lagoon visitor.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lol thats cute wonder if the dolphins will take one of us meaning humans as it's playmate.