OdySea Aquarium brightened the day yesterday for the patients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital with a fun and festive virtual “Holiday Show,” featuring several of the aquarium’s charismatic animals, informative animal experts and the perfect “splash down” by none-other than SeaTREK Santa — surrounded by sharks, rays and other fascinating fish.
OdySea hosted the show to lift the spirits of the children who are unable to leave the hospital during the holidays and to bring a bit of the aquarium, and its seasonal "Winter Waterland" celebration, to them.
“We have the privilege of connecting kids with animals every day at OdySea Aquarium,” said Jessica Peranteau, director of animal care, who served as master of ceremonies for the 30-minute presentation. “Children are the best guests; so curious and eager to see and learn about all the species. But the young patients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital can’t visit right now, so we wanted to deliver the excitement of OdySea Aquarium directly to them in the hopes that, even briefly, they could forget about their illnesses or injuries and just be kids.”
Everyone at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, from patients and families to doctors, nurses and other staff could tune-in as the show broadcast via virtual video (Zoom) straight from OdySea Aquarium’s posh VIP Room (with an incredible backdrop of sharks, fish and rays) to the hospital’s community room, The Zone, and on every in-room TV for patients unable to leave their beds.
The holiday show allowed viewers to virtually meet Pickles, a female three-banded armadillo; Sedona, a female endangered African penguin; and Barny, a male sloth, along with passionate and informative members of the OdySea Aquarium Animal Care Team.
During the show, the team spent time sharing interesting facts about each species, as well as insider information about the personality of each animal and answered questions from the children.
The grand finale featured an appearance from jolly ‘ol SeaTREK Santa who enthusiastically greeted his virtual guests with bubble hearts and underwater kisses, eventually waving goodbye while surrounded by all the featured animals and team members as the show ended.
Feedback from Phoenix Children’s is that virtual gathering was a huge success on their end as it definitely made the kids’ – and everyone’s (at the hospital) –day. “The kids especially loved it,” they reported.
Everyone who participated from OdySea Aquarium can safely say their hearts are full and are eager to host another show with Phoenix Children’s Hospital very soon.
Just some of the adorable questions that the children asked:
- Does Pickles (the armadillo) eat pickles? (Camilla) No, unfortunately, pickles are not part of Pickles’ diet.
- How deep is the water that Santa and the sharks swim in? (Cruz) SeaTREK Santa splashes down into the Deep Ocean exhibit that is about 15 feet deep and full of several species of sharks, stingrays and other fish.
- Does somebody stay there at night with the animals? (Jedediah) Yes, OdySea Aquarium has teams at the aquarium caring for and monitoring the animals 24 hours a day.
- How long would it take Santa to get around the world if he had a sleigh full of sloths? (Melody) Good question! OdySea Aquarium estimates it would take a lot longer than one night.
