We walked through the resort to their beach area thronged with sun loungers and holiday makers and right there on there dock was the floating enclosure. Our first impressions were that he is a lot bigger than we expected. His age is estimated at 4 years and he's 4m / 12' long and could grow to four times that length when fully mature. Volunteers sit by his enclosure 24 hours a day to monitor him and to stop over enthusiastic holiday makers jumping in the water with him. He's got some serious teeth and apparently gets very boisterous. The manager of the aquarium comes in his boat at 6am to feed and exercise him. Apparently Sully swims behind the boat like it's his pal, sometimes getting too close and has a scar from the propellers. A pod of pilot whales did pass by a couple of months ago and they got him out to them. All was going well until they dived deep and he couldn't, or didn't want to, follow and he turned tail and swam as fast as he could to catch up to the boat that was speeding away.
The next option is that he will be sold to Sea World in San Diego and when we were there this afternoon a hnadler was training him to follow a ball on a stick and to come up to have his back scratched in return for herrings. The San Diego option seems a fair one – free food for life, two female companions and lots of attention. I didn't realise whale is a misnomer, as these animals are more closely related to dolphins than they are to whales.
I wondered if I could get away with saying this photo was taken from on board but I don't think you'd have believed me.
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