No. 2 Sea World Nipping at Attendance Heels of Zoo

Many would consider the tortoise an aquatic animal, the hare a species of the wide open prairie. To carry the analogy a step further, you might expect to see a tortoise at Sea World, a hare at the San Diego Zoo.

Take it one more step.

The story of the tortoise and the hare may apply directly to the race between Sea World and its unofficial rival, the zoo.

For the first time ever, Sea World is inching perilously close to the zoo in annual attendance.

Perilously?

Who or what is at peril?

Well, feelings. The feelings of the hare are in danger of being ruffled by, of all things, the tortoise.

Zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett calls them “bragging rights.” Jouett said the zoo really cares about being the No. 1 attraction in San Diego and seeks to maintain its standing. He admitted that Sea World is a threat--though hardly a pernicious one.

“There’s not any dollar value involved, it’s just a bragging right,” Jouett said. “We’ll still get our 3-million plus every year, and so will they. It’s just a point of pride.”

Last year, Sea World drew 3.72 million people, record attendance for the park that celebrated its 24th anniversary in San Diego this past Monday. Spurred by its internationally acclaimed panda exhibit, the zoo also drew record crowds--3.8 million for 1987.

What if the zoo hadn’t had the pandas?

“Hey, they haven’t beaten us yet,” Jouett said. “We passed Sea World only in the last couple of months (of ‘87), and only because of the pandas, that’s true. Still, a dramatic comeback . . . We continue to lay claim to being No. 1.”

“Will it be a big deal when we surpass them?” asked Sea World publicist Dan LeBlanc. “You mean, will we send out a press release or something? No. That’s not the goal here. Although we are looking to pass 4 million this year, . . . and we’re sure we will.”

Though Jouett admitted that the zoo’s attendance was spurred by something out of the ordinary--those furry black-and-white animals from China--LeBlanc admitted that Sea World also reaped an exceptional harvest.

“We attribute the attendance to all of our improvements undertaken in ‘87,” LeBlanc said. “We built a new Shamu Stadium. Our educational complex opened. A learning center. We have new stuff this year, too. Saturday, the new killer whale show opens. Saturday, we’ll open the penguin quarantine exhibit. You can actually see baby penguins being reared. (Olympic figure skater) Scott Hamilton produced our new ice-skating show. We have a concert series coming up. And, the dolphin exhibit has been improved.”

The zoo’s big item is the much-anticipated opening of Tiger River, the $3 million-plus project funded largely by philanthropist Joan Kroc. That should count for a few thousand more fans.

The race goes on.

Despite any threat the tortoise might now pose to the hare, Sea World is still Avis, the zoo is still Hertz.

“We are No. 2,” LeBlanc said, “but not for long.”

Surpassing the zoo could nab Jouett and Co. right where it hurts.

“They’re the young upstart, but we’ve been around for 72 years,” Jouett said. “They are catching up--but they’re still catching up. Sea World is a great place. Has a lot of things going for it. It’s open at night and stays open twice as long as we do. I guess if all was fair, we could do the same. We could open at night, too.”

“We have sort of a rivalry,” LeBlanc said. “A friendly one, though. When we put together our marketing plan, we don’t say, ‘This is the year we

beat the zoo!’ But we watch their numbers, and they watch ours.

“In some ways, though, it’s like apples and oranges. They’re a great zoological park. We go more for straight entertainment. They would shudder at the appellation of theme park, but we’re proud of that. At the same time, we’re a marine zoological park. They do research, so do we. They’re concerned with endangered species, so are we.”

Still, it seems slightly amusing that Sea World recently appointed an “ambassador,” a job title popularized by Joan Embrey at the San Diego Zoo. In a recent press release, Sea World referred to its “beautiful black-and-white Commerson’s dolphins” as “the pandas of the sea.”

“We share flamingos and water birds and not much else,” Jouett said. “We both have sea lions. We gave them all of our penguins when they opened the Penguin Encounter. We then closed our penguin exhibit. I’m sure they’re as proud as we are.”

Jouett paused.

Was the hare looking over his shoulder?

“Next year, they may well be No. 1,” he said, “but this year--right now--they aren’t. They’re still No. 2, just trying to catch up.”