Stuffing ice-cold fish with vitamins. Preparing hundreds of pounds of animal food. Lugging fish buckets. Ah, the life of a trainer at SeaWorld San Diego.
With a new program, the experience has become a product in itself at the SeaWorld park in Orlando, Fla. , and it’s coming to San Diego.
In January, the park will launch the program called “Trainer for a Day,” in which customers pay $350 and spend a seven-hour shift behind the scenes with a killer whale or dolphin trainer.
Besides the chores, participants also take part in the job’s more obvious charms , such as getting into the water to take part in training sessions. They also make a cameo appearance during a SeaWorld show.
“We think it’ll be a great experience,” said Bob Tucker, a SeaWorld public relations director.
For the last year, the program has been popular at SeaWorld Orlando, according to Tucker. “It’s taken off like wildfire,” he said.
Ed Litrenta, vice president of marketing for the local park, feels the program will be as successful with San Diego customers.
“One, they have a lot of respect for our trainers,” Litrenta said. Also, he added, “To be able to spend a day with them doing what they do, I think people will see that it’s glamorous at times, there’s also a lot of hard work that goes into it as well.”
