SPECTACULAR WATER BALLET AT SONGKHLA AQUARIUM LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!
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Man and shark waltzing together with hands and fins and legs and tail locked together! Amazing!
FIREFLY FLIES DIRECT FROM SUBANG TO HATYAI EVERY SUNDAY, MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY AND SONGKHLA IS 45 MINUTES FROM HATYAI.
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I have also never seen a man and turtle waltzing together either! Worth a trip to Songkhla just to see these incredible acts!
2 hands, one each to hold a shark!
It is extremely rare for a turtle to allow itself to be fed and danced with!
Its flipper seems to caress the diver's head affectionately!
Underwater waltz between man and turtle!
SONGKHLA AQUARIUM IS IN THE SMALL TOWN OF SONGKHLA IN THE SOUTHERN THAI PROVINCE OF THE SAME NAME SO I WAS NOT EXPECTING AN AQUARIUM LIKE THE WORLD FAMOUS SAN DIEGO OR MIAMI AQUARIUM.
Kee Hua Chee pointing to a shark somewhere inside the tank!
I had visited Siam Aquarium at Siam Paragon in Bangkok and was thoroughly impressed but in one aspect, Songkhla Aquarium scored highly.
This is the fish feeding show. Well, I have seen plenty of shows featuring divers inside a gigantic tank with transparent glass feeding fish so I hardly expected to be bowled over. I assumed I would be mildly amused to see a member of the homo sapiens species swimming around with food surrounded by shoals of fish, shark, ray and turtle.
Songkhla Aquarium has them all and the obligatory diver but this was the first time in my long and exciting life I had seen a diver waltzing with a shark and turtle!
Yes, I said 'waltzing' as in ballroom dancing!
Accompanied by the theme song Hawaii 5-0, a diver appears suddenly before my astonished eyes with a huge nurse shark and started waltzing with it, using its fins as hands to hold!
The diver ( I couldn't make out whether a male or female was inside the wetsuit) even spins the shark in a circular motion, exactly the same as 2 human dancers would do on the dance floor!
Grabbing one fin with one hand and holding the shark's body with the other, the duo would spin as fast as the water pressure would allow! In fact, it even looks as if the human and shark were copulating as the shark was in the perpendicular position!
I wonder how the diver manages to tame and train what is otherwise a wild and savage beast into a sedate and elegant human activity! Only shows how fish and animals can relate to humans if given the chance!
The nurse shark is bigger than the diver and must have been over 6 ft and seems to be best friend with the diver as it even allows him/her to ride its back! Incredible.
At one stage, the diver manages to hold 2 sharks together for me to photograph. For all I know, the diver could have been my friend Zane Kamat who is renowned as a sea creature loving fanatic and PADI instructor.
I was stunned when the diver casually wrapped his leg round the shark to hold it in position as they waltzed and spun!
He even danced with a huge turtle by holding its big flippers and turning it round and round the same way he did with the shark.
Both appeared to enjoy such machinations and related so well and lovingly with the diver. I reckon only he could do this with the sharks and turtles as not every Tom, Dick and Harry of a diver could jump into the tank and carouse with them unscathed.
I half expected the diver to do the same with the stingray but he did not. Perhaps rays are not pro-human and might take offence at being flapped around. Their wings certainly would make them ideal candidates for ballroom dancing but they merely swam around to see what was going on.
There were several giant garoupa who came to get their share of food. Some fish were pretty aware the edibles were inside the pail and made a beeline for the plastic container, almost knocking it off the diver's hand.
To see a human surrounded by assorted fish and denizens of the deep with all species enjoying the company of each other is so edifying!
I almost wanted to fly to Australia's Great Barrier Reef or Ribbon Reef or Sipadan off Sabah to do the same. But it takes time and effort for the sharks and turtles to get accustomed with humans. I want to play and feed them but certainly have no wish to be fodder for them!
Songkhla Aquarium is relatively small but is quite interactive. It has the usual aquariums filled with all sorts of fish including nasty looking moray eels and cutesy seahorses but showtime is totally the highlight and worth every sen of RM 25 entry fee.
Other attractions include the Fish Spa where you dip your feet into a tank containing Gara Rufa fish which will nibble and eat dead skin flakes. Or try go karting on the 700 metre track with hairpin bends and high speed sweeping turns. Or enjoy driving a buggy on the beach which stretches for 800 metres.
Songkhla Aquarium is a great day out for both adults and kids!
www.songkhlaaquarium.com or call 66 2011 2012 for latest info.
GETTING TO SONGKHLA IS NOW EASIER THAN EVER AS FIREFLY FLIES 4 TIMES A WEEK DIRECT FROM SUBANG AIRPORT TO HATYAI AIRPORT. SONGKHLA IS 45 MINUTES DRIVE FROM HATYAI.
BELOW ARE PICTURES I TOOK WITH MY LEICA CAMERA OF MAN AND SHARK WALTZING MERRILY TOGETHER...HAND, FIN, LEG AND TAIL IN TIGHT EMBRACE!
Have you ever seen a man holding 2 sharks? I haven't either so this photo must be worth thousands!
The other turtle appears to wait its turn to waltz too...and so does the shark
A big hug!
THE END
First of all aquariums are nothing more than a jail for animals but if on top humans use those animals like toys it's torture. The main point is that an aquarium is supposed to educate people about the wildlife, unfortunately showing people playing with animals like toys is doing exactly the opposite. The blogger here says himself that watching that make him want to go to Sipadan or the Great Barrier Reef to play with turtles and sharks the same way !
ReplyDeleteNo ! Turtles and Sharks don't enjoy that ! This has to stop !
I'm a diving instructor, observing on a daily basis sharks and rays and those animals swim away as soon as they are touched by humans, they don't enjoy it.
Please, if you go to this aquarium tell them that this kind of show has to stop. We are a group of people who are trying to stop that, you can sign a petition here:
http://goo.gl/muH2Jp
This makes me feel sick. Grabbing the animals and pretending to waltz with them, these pictures remind me of greasy old men and young girls who are forced into selling their bodies. Please don't fool yourself into thinking this is natural nor entertaining. This is disgusting!
ReplyDeleteThe only reason to keep animals in captivity should be to educate and therefore help conserve the natural world. This show is obviously not intended to promote knowledge of the natural marine environment. Harassing animals purely for profits is disgusting. I would not go and encourage this business.
ReplyDeleteThe big shark (nurse shark) was "enjoying" the dancing so much that it DIED as a result of it. The whole article is absolutely disgusting.
ReplyDeleteThe blogger who wrote this article is ignorant and has no clue about diving standards! He should educate himself about safe and eco-friendly diving practices.
Green Turtles are in Cites Appendix I - it is against the international law to harass them.
Songkhla Aquarium is a shameless place, with only one goal - make a bit of money, they have no regards for the animals safety or well-being.
Please help us stop the shark and turtle torture by signing this petition:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Major_companies_like_CocaCola_Chang_TOA_and_Amazing_Thailand_Stop_all_sponsorship_of_Green_Turtle_and_Shark_torture_in_S/?cNVYGdb