Dolphin Training DIVA.Have you always harbored a desire to swim with dolphins while soaking up Florida rays? Then you'd flip to be in Kym Folkemer's, um, flippers n. 1. A type of shoe with a paddle-like front extending well beyond the end of the toe, used an aid in swimming (especially underwater). . It might sound like a blast but dolphin dolphin, fish dolphin, large, swift game fish, Coryphaena hipparus, also called dorado. It is of nearly worldwide distribution in warm waters. training isn't just beach balls and dorsal dorsal /dor·sal/ (dor´s'l) 1. pertaining to the back or to any dorsum. 2. denoting a position more toward the back surface than some other object of reference; a synonym of posterior fine--it's hard work. Just ask Kym. She spends seven days a week in her wetsuit wet·suit also wet suit n. A tight-fitting permeable suit worn in cold water, as by skin divers, to retain body heat. wetsuit wet n → combinaison f de plongée as supervisor of Animal Training at Discovery Cove Discovery Cove is an Orlando, Florida theme park where guests can interact with a variety of marine animals, most notably bottlenose dolphins. The park, which is operated by the Busch Entertainment Corporation (the theme park division of Anheuser-Busch) is adjacent to SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla. "I always wanted to work with dolphins," says Kym, 31. "It's weird because I'm from Missouri and everyone asked me how I even knew about dolphins, but I traveled to Florida a lot." After college, Kym cuddled with small animals at the St. Louis Children's Zoo before she hit the beaches of Tahiti and Hawaii, where the first interaction programs with dolphins were started. Now, Kym spends most of her time throwing out pounds of fish during feed time or splish-splashing with guests. Hey, and in her free time, she hops onto her best friend and dolphin co-worker, Griffith, for a belly ride. "I love seeing everyone's reactions to the dolphins. And I don't take it for granted," she says. "The dolphins act different every day. I never know what to expect." |
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