Tuesday 31 December 2013

A Happy New Year Story by Dippy

The SeaToday it was New Years Eve 2013, at this time of year when the Park is closed to visitors myself and the rest of the animals still like to have a little bit of fun. I remember last year I had been given the very important responsibility of organising the evenings entertainment for the entire Park. I had started preparing for this huge extravagant party at the end of the summer and I had to make sure everything was ready in time for my guests arriving at 8 pm.
Many of the girls in the Park went off to the hairdressers to get fancy hairdos done and have their nails manicured for the night. Smart dinner suits and crisp white shirts were ironed in the laundry room by the rats, Templeton and Rizzo. They were experts at costume presentation and enjoyed dressing all the animals smartly on nights like these.
As dusk fell about 4 pm, I wandered around the Park switching on all the Christmas tree lights, it looked wonderful, like a magical twinkling fairyland. The party was held in the Park restaurant, all the tables and chairs had been moved to the edge to create a large area for a dance floor. A special stage had been built by the otters, Frank, Sammy and Dean for the nights visiting jazz band. Our entertainment guests, were a fabulous bunch who travelled all the way down from London by train.
I popped on my dinner jacket and bow tie, combed my hair and then had a little taster of the Bucks Fizz which had been prepared by Cookie, the Kookaburra, who was in charge of serving drinks. Cookie was able to create the most delicious cocktails of tantalising tastes and flavours.
The guests began to arrive dressed in glamorous glitter costumes, bringing with them plates of fancy party food as contributions towards the grand party buffet. The rich smell of steamed Christmas pudding covered in brandy drifted through the air and melted away as you moved down the table towards the savoury snacks of smoked salmon on buttered brown bread triangles and cocktail sausages presented on a plate in the shape of a Christmas tree. The food looked and tasted absolutely delicious!!
Alfie and Willis, the black pigs had been selling raffle tickets for the past few weeks before the party and that night the grand prize was revealed, it was a reservation for two at a luxury hotel in the West Wight with a gourmet dinner and champagne followed by a day in the hotel spa. What a treat!
As the evening went on, the dance floor filled and all the Park animals whirled around to the wonderful jazz music. The band was truly amazing, all of the penguins playing were enormoursly talented and they seemed to be having as much fun as all of us on what was a wonderful night.
As midnight approached, tall glasses filled with sparkling champagne were passed around to each guest, so that everyone had one to hold in their flippers, wings or paws for the countdown – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. As the restaurant clock’s hands reached the number twelve we all joined in together and shouted ‘Happy New Year’ followed by a ‘Hip, Hip, Horray’ Cheer!!!

Saturday 7 December 2013

Extracts from Dippy’s Adventures on the Isle Of Wight


Dippy at Totland Bay (2) This afternoon I met up with my rabbit friends who live in burrows amongst the ferns on Headon Warren which overlooks Totland Bay. Their names are Rabbit Rocket and Rabbit Raspberry.
We sat together on the worn wooden planks of the boat ramp and gazed at the gently rocking waves as they splashed up onto the shore. The sun was beginning to set and  light up the sky turning the clouds to colours of yellow, orange, and pinks. It was starting to feel a little bit chilly, I looked up towards the sky and felt the suns last rays of warmth upon my face before the evening cold began to set in.
Rocket Rabbit suggested a quick game of hide and seek to warm our little bodies up before going on our journeys home to be back in time for dinner. What a super idea!
I said I would count to 100 and promised not to peek as I covered my eyes with my flippers.
It took me quite a while to find the rabbits, there were so many hiding places under all the upside down wooden boats resting against the iron railings on the pebbled Bay. Eventually I found them under the pier hiding really high up on one of the large wooden structural beams. They waved down at me and both had very cheeky smiles on their faces!
Before saying our goodbyes the rabbits helped me fill up 5 jam jars I had brought with me in my rucksack. It was a special treat for the otters at the Park, Frank, Sammy and Dean they absolutely love to bathe in fresh sea water and they asked me to pick some up for them on my trip out today.
I carefully tightened each metal lid of the jars and packed them into my bag. I said goodbye to my friends, wished them a safe journey home and set off towards Seaview.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Winter Work at the Park

There is a hive of activity over at Wildfowl Way at the moment, where Roger and Graham are busy updating some of the enclosures!
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The Peacocks are having an extension to give them even more space to explore, whilst lots of the other aviaries are being dismantled to make way for some new larger open exhibits!
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Friday 15 November 2013

Untold Distress Caused by neighbours letting off fireworks right next door to Seaview Wildlife Encounter Isle Of Wight over a 48 hour period

‘Animals terrified by fireworks ordeal’ – our story has made the local paper:
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A letter also in the paper from Kirsten Pullen, CEO British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, London:
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If you agree that fireworks should not be set off in areas close to zoological and animal collections, you can help by signing this online petition:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/56582

Thursday 7 November 2013

PLEASE SIGN THE EPETITION TO STOP FIREWORKS BEING LET OFF NEAR WILDLIFE PARKS AND ZOOS


Please sign the epetition to stop fireworks being let off next to Wildlife Parks.  Our animals had to endure a weekend of fireworks being let off from Friday 1st November from 2.20pm through the evening and then started again on Saturday 2nd November from noon through to 11.20pm at night.  This was a prolonged, systematic drip feed of loud explosions and bangs which terrorised our birds and animals.
The ePetition is now live online and available to sign, could everyone please share?                    http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/56582

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See our Face book page dippyseaview for the full story.  Please help us to stop this from ever happening again – it was truly terrifying for all concerned.

The Team at Seaview.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Dippys Adventures- Dippy and the Double Rainbow

Dippy's Adventures on the Isle of Wight

This afternoon I had been invited for tea by my friend Sidney the seagull, who lived in the white cliffs at Freshwater Bay with his family. His wife had said she would make some seaweed and raisin scones which I was looking forward to eating very much with lots of fresh cream and strawberry jam.

When I arrived the young seagulls were playing on the pebbled beach and Sidney was busy catching fish from the sea for their meal that evening. Mrs. Seagull invited me in and offered me a cup of tea. They had a wonderful home, it wasn’t too high up in the cliff so I could just about climb up to it, carefully and slowly taking one step at a time up to the small circular doorway.

Inside the walls were decorated with carved out pictures all done by the young seagulls of the family. They had used sharp rocks and stones to create beautiful drawings which were then finished with tiny coloured shells.

After eating rather a lot of Mrs. Seagulls scones, and feeling very full indeed, Sidney began to tell me about a game he and his family liked to play on days like these. He explained the weather conditions were just right, the sun was shining high in the sky peeping in and out of huge white fluffy clouds and then every now and again a grey cloud would pass and a shower of rain would pour down.

The game was to make a rainbow, it was such a magical idea I jumped up out of my seat and said with delight how much I would like to join in !! Mrs. Seagull brought out a large black cauldron from under the kitchen sink and the young seagulls each held a wooden spoon in their wings. Sidney lined up seven jam jars in a row on the wooden table, these were filled with different colours of shimmering dust. In each jar the dust sparkled and seemed to have a magical halo around it. Sidney then emptied the glittering dust into the cauldron and as he did, tiny twinkling stars rose up from within and then floated in the air above our heads, some floated out through the door, outside onto the bay.

Mrs. Seagull read aloud a spell written inside a large leather bound book whilst each of the young seagulls gave the potion a little stir. She explained the spell would take a few minutes to work, and that we were best to go up to the cliff above the bay overlooking Mermaid Rock to get the best view of the magic.

The young seagulls flew up there whilst I waddled up to the top of the bay. Sidney and Mrs. Seagull carried the cauldron together, each holding the handle  with one wing. Once they had arrived at the top they flew up into the clouds and scattered the magic dust into the air. The young  seagulls sat very still all perched on the edge of a bench gazing up into the sky with their wings crossed behind their backs for good luck !

Then it happened, the clouds opened and the sun beamed through, a shower of soft rain sprinkled down and landed gently upon our faces as we gazed up at this wonderous site. The spell had not only worked well but something happened that Sidney explained he had never been seen before – it was a double rainbow !!!

Dippy Frshwater Bay rainbow

Mrs. Seagull very kindly took a photo for me as I stood under this amazing sight with a huge smile upon my face. I could not wait to tell my penguin friends about this magical time I had had, I thanked the seagull family for a delightful afternoon and sped on home with my photograph held tightly in my flippers.

To read all of Dippy’s stories- check out his website:
http://dippytheisleofwightpenguin.com/

Dippy Mascot adventure


Thursday 31 October 2013

Dippys Adventures- Dippy with the Fossil Hunters from Southampton


If you missed Dippy’s adventures earlier this summer, here is another chance to catch up on all his activities so far…

16th May 2013

I learnt some very interesting things today, I met up with some palaeontologists at Alum Bay, these are people who are very clever and study fossils and layers in the ground. I collected some of the multi coloured sands in my buckets, popped onto the chairlift up to Alum Bay Park and had a wonderful time filling a little glass lighthouse ornament in striped layers – it was brilliant !
I then had a cool glass of lemonade before returning to my penguin pool to see all my other penguin friends.

Dippy with Southampton Paleontologists

Wednesday 30 October 2013

AUTUMN SCENES AT SEAVIEW WILDLIFE


The Park closes this coming Sunday November 3rd.  We have had a fantastic season and when closed we get under way with packing up all departments… Gifts, Catering and Entrance Reception areas, taking down all the signage, storing away table and chairs, benches and bins and concentrating on maintenance tasks, upgrading areas, implementing marketing plans for next year and  Staff take a well earned break!

Sun through the trees
All the animals still need health checking, feeding and cleaning daily so we always have keepers in each day no matter what the weather to look after our precious stock.  Once the Christmas break is over the momentum builds again with the count down to once again opening for the 2014 season on March 29th.

Willow trees at Lower Lake

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Half term Junior Wildlife Encounters

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming 11 year old Dominic from Somerset, who joined us at the Park for the morning to enjoy his ‘Junior Wildlife Experience’ birthday treat!

Dominic is an avid Animal enthusiast so he thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of our furry and scaly friends that we have here at the Park. Here are just a few snap shots of his morning spent with Keepers.

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This afternoon we were joined by the very enthusiastic Amber, who just didn’t stop smiling. Here are a few photos of Amber’s experience with us today.

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If you would like to book an experience with us for next year, click on the link below to find out more.

http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/wildlife_encounters/

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Dippy’s adventures on the Isle of Wight!

imageWe all know how much Dippy loves swimming and splashing around with all his pals in his super duper pool here at Seaview but did you know he also likes to have an occasional swim in the deep blue sea!
After the Keepers and visitors have left the Park and ventured home, Dippy takes the opportunity to set off on his own adventures visiting beautiful locations on the Isle of Wight each with its own story to tell.
Here is where the story began….

Hello boys and girls my name is Dippy the penguin!
I live here with all my penguin friends in our super duper pool at Seaview Wildlife Encounter. We have lots of fun in our penguin pool, swimming around our crystal water fountains and zooming down our speedy penguin slide. When it’s dinner time, we all jump and dive in and out of the deep water making lots of noise and splashing everywhere trying to catch the dippylicious fish to fill our bellies.
Boys and girls, you may just think that we live in an ordinary penguin pool and that I am an ordinary penguin – but I am about to tell you a very big secret. As well as being Dippy the champion fish catcher, I also have another very special magic power. . .
If you look at our penguin pool you will see some tall white cliffs with a big red and white striped lighthouse at the end. This is a very special lighthouse, around the back is a tiny wooden door just big enough for me to squeeze through . . .when I fancy a little trip out I go inside the magical lighthouse, a bright light on top flashes and sparkles and takes me to the giant Needles Lighthouse at Alum Bay. Here, I open another little door, and step outside onto the rocks surrounded by the big blue sea. My Dippy adventures begin from here, to wonderful places all over the Isle of Wight.
Dippy on his way home low res
To follow Dippy on his wonderful adventures around the Isle of Wight check out his website….

Saturday 19 October 2013

FANTASTIC QUOTES FROM OUR VISITORS BOOK


  My husband, myself and my son (46 years old) had a really interesting day.  Everybody was really informative of the Wildlife and my son enjoyed the day enormously especially feeding the Penguins”

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  I think this place is amazing because there are so many animals and I nearly finished all my camera space here ! “

Meerkat and Camera 
  What a smashing place to spend an afternoon!  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and being the centre of the ducks and geese world – well while we have food that is ! “

Charlie feeding the ducks
  “  Having a lovely day at the Park especially loved the wallabies and Alpacas.  Excellent – long may it continue to provide a place for adults and children to get close to nature”

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Thursday 17 October 2013

Robert braves the weather for his 3rd Keeper for a Day experience


Robert braved the wind and the rain to join us for his third Keeper for a Day experience with us yesterday. Due to the adverse weather conditions and no visitors the park closed its gates. This meant that Robert had the whole park to himself!

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After a rather soggy morning the sun broke through the clouds and the rain cleared. We hope the weather didn't spoil your visit Robert, it was a pleasure having you here with us for a third time, we hope to see you next year!
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If you would like to book a special Keeper for a Day experience click on the link below for more details.

Friday 4 October 2013

Autumn Newsletter 2013

HERE’S A QUICK UPDATE OF THIS YEARS NEWS AT SEAVIEW WILDLIFE ENCOUNTER!
Autumn leaves are falling, the nights are drawing in and only a short time to go until we close (3rd November) for the winter.
This summer’s imagewarm, fine weather has meant that we have welcomed lots of visitors to the Park this season and continue to lead the way with personal, one-on-one Wildlife Experiences!
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We had a great season of Penguin, Meerkat and Combo Encounters allowing visitors to experience a unique personal encounter with their favourite Animal, as well as hosting the increasingly popular “Keeper for a Day”, “Junior Wildlife Experience” and “Wildest Date” Encounters.


DSC_0494It seems the Keepers haven’t been the only ones busy this summer as Dippy our oldest and dearest Penguin has also been out and about on secret adventures visiting beautiful Island locations!




You can follow Dippy’s adventures on Facebook and by visiting his website



imageFollowing Dippy on Facebook?
Get up to date information about the Park all year round at



The Wallaby Joeys that were so tiny earlier in the summer are spending more time hopping about in Wallaby Walkabout and less time tucked up in the safety of their mothers’ pouches. image
If you visited the Park you may have met Jacob, our adorable orphaned Albino Joey who is being hand reared by Keepers and is becoming more and more independent and very much loved by everyone!

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Our Chilean Flamingos have bred very well again this year. To date we currently have seen 12 Flamingo Chicks with more eggs to hatch!


Although our Flamingos are always the last to breed they are by no means the first as our breeding duck enclosures rapidly became a safe haven for many mums and ducklings this year!
Penguin Pool 5 July 2010

As another year draws to a close we would like to thank everyone for their on- going support and look forward to welcoming all our Visitors again next year!



Warmest wishes From Dippy and his pals
...and all the Team at Seaview Wildlife
XXX







 

Why not book your VIP Wildlife Encounter for this October half term holiday or Spring 2014?
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In addition to our nine daily Wildlife Keeper Presentations our extra special one-on-one Wildlife Encounters have been extremely popular this summer. “An experience of a lifetime” for adults and children alike, these Encounters offer really close up, personal time, feeding and getting to know the animals (Personal DVD of images included). Choose from:
· Keeper for a Day (ages 12 – 112!)
· Junior Wildlife Experience (ages 6 – 15)
· Penguin or Meerkat Encounter (or Combo Encounters with both) (adults and children 6+)
· Wildest Place for a Special Date (adults, 18+)
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For more information please see our website: http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/wildlife_encounters/
Pre-booking is essential; to check availability please email info@seaviewwildlife.com or phone 01983 612153.


“Brilliant Penguin Encounter Experience.  All staff so friendly and welcoming we felt like stars.  Will recommend.  I TOUCHED A PENGUIN! “


Tuesday 1 October 2013

Exciting Autumn Animal Encounters Continue!

Even though the nights are drawing in and the weather is starting to get gloomy, there is still a buzz of activity here at the park with our fantastic animal encounters always proving very popular!
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It seems over the past few weeks our Penguins and Meerkats have been the favourites, with lots of visitors choosing to spend their special encounter with them!
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Here are some of the teams favourite photos of our most recent guests:
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Everyone here at the park would like to say a big thank you to all of you who have visited us so far this year!
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If you are interested in having your own special wildlife encounter with our animals, take a look at the website for more information:

http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/wildlife_encounters/