NEW WHALE-PETTING TANK OPENS TO MANY TOURISTS, SOME PROTESTERS.

Byline: Matthew Fordahl Associated Press 

The opening of Sea World's hands-on whale exhibit drew thousands of visitors and dozens of protesters who say the animals should be free, not confined to the water-park equivalent of a petting zoo.

``Shamu Backstage'' allows visitors to help train, feed and touch the park's six killer whales - all known as either Shamu or Baby Shamu - in a new 1.7 million gallon pool. The two-acre attraction opened Saturday to large Memorial Day weekend crowds.

``It's very educational and very inspirational,'' said Jim Antrim, the park's general curator. ``People who come and have a close personal experience with the animals now have the option . . . to go away with a better sense of respect and understanding for the animals.''

Animal activists have long protested capturing, breeding and forcing whales to perform at neighboring Shamu Stadium, but the new interactive exhibit had them spouting with anger.

``They're denied the acoustical stimulation of the sea, the visual stimulation of the natural world,'' said Jane Cartmill, an organizer of San Diego Animal Advocates. ``Now they're treated like somebody's bathtub rubber duck.''

About 50 protesters, including one dressed in a whale costume, lined the sidewalk outside Sea World's old entrance Saturday. A few passing cars honked in support, but most visitors to the bayside park were already inside by the time the protest started. The protest ended without any violence or arrests, park officials said.

The new exhibit has been under construction for more than a year and includes four channels to the Shamu Stadium tank, where shows will continue. The black-and-white whales now have 6.7 million gallons to swim in with the new tank, officials say.

After viewing the animals through a 70-foot-long window, visitors can walk upstairs to the top of the pool where they can roll up their pants, wade through a shallow section of the pool and touch the 4,000-pound animals. To speed up the lines, the petting usually lasts less than a minute.

Throughout the day, trainers also show the guests different hand signals that command the whales to perform tricks. The new tank is also equipped with various buttons that allow the whales to spray onlookers with the 55-degree salt water or launch bubbles from the bottom of the pool.

Antrim and other park officials insist there is no danger to either the visitors or the animals because the whales are not forced to participate.

``If the animals don't feel like interacting, obviously they'll do what they want,'' Antrim said. ``They can swim out to the center or out to the other pool. It's strictly a voluntary or cooperative effort on the whale's part.''

But the protesters say Sea World has taken a step backward with the new exhibit and should be figuring out a way to release captive animals back into the wild.

``The natural relationship between human and wild animals is one of distance,'' Cartmill said.

She said ``these hands-on, touchy-feely exhibits'' are ``the most artificial, the most unnatural of anything going on at Sea World.''

The park's other interactive animal exhibit, which inspired ``Shamu Backstage,'' allows guests to swim with dolphins. Unlike the new attraction, however, it costs $125 in addition to the regular park fees.

Sea World of California is a 150-acre park on San Diego's Mission Bay. It's one of several owned nationwide by St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch.