Dr Claire Madden Vet At Sea World Marine Park With Reporter Mike Smith

Travel Writers Radio

EA WORLD MARINE PARK – FROM BEHIND THE SCENES With the mid-year school holidays quickly approaching, interest will once again focus on Queensland’s Gold Coast and the countless family attractions on Australia’s most popular holidaying playgrounds. In the forefront is the long-established Sea World Marine Park, just north of Surfers Paradise, and the comical antics put on by the resident seals, dolphins and penguins in entertaining the young guests. There’s even a polar bear enclosure along with one for sting rays and another for sea jellies. Guests can even have a chance to get up close and friendly with the dolphins in a shallow lagoon – before or after taking a thrill seeking few minutes on one of the rides or watching a Thunder Lake Waterskiing Stunt Show. While all the interest centres on entertainment, there’s a serious side to the theme park from a team dedicated to understanding, protecting and conserving the marine environment through research, conservation and rescue activities. To find out more, veteran travel writer Mike Smith went behind the scenes to interview head veterinarian at the Sea World Marine Park, Claire Madden. Photo: Dr Claire Madden