SAN DIEGO _ A symphonic score filled the former Shamu Stadium at SeaWorld, the tempo building suspense as footage of an icy landscape in Antarctica moved across a 140-foot-wide screen.
A little off cue, an 8,000-pound orca named Keet appeared, speeding along the perimeter of the pool as waves crashed over where a crowd of SeaWorld visitors would be sitting when the San Diego park's Orca Encounter debuted over the weekend. On the wide screen above, killer whales in the wild worked in tandem to manufacture waves, dislodging their prey _ a lone seal perched on an ice floe.
"Keet is demonstrating this wave-making technique," a trainer explains, "showing the complex and impressive hunting abilities killer whales have developed around the world."
The hunting demo was one of many whale behaviors seen in the wild that was being re-enacted as the San Diego marine park rehearsed its much anticipated Orca Encounter.
