We've got our flippers crossed!

We've been shortlisted in three categories in this year's Radio Wave Culture & Lifestyle Awards - but now we need your help.

We're lucky enough to have been shortlisted for the Tourism Award, Kids' Choice Award and Entertainment Venue Award - but now it's over to you to help us win!! 

You can vote online until 30th April 2017 by using the links below. 

Tourism Award - Click here to vote
Kids' Choice Award - Click here to vote
Entertainment Venue Award - Click here to vote

But don't just take our word for it, listen to what Anya has to say...

My name’s Anya, and I’m a Californian sealion residing in the best entertainment venue in town, the Active Oceans Arena at Blackpool Zoo, which has been shortlisted for a Radio Wave Culture and Lifestyle Award. Every day of the year (apart from Christmas Day), myself and / or my friends and relatives, Gina, Elmo and the rest, offer fantastic live entertainment to the visitors.

We work alongside Khaled, Alyx, Gary and Charlie to put on a display which teaches the zoo’s visitors about us and the problems our wild relatives face out in the ocean. Our trainers give us fish if we respond to their requests to show off to the public, but we don’t let them know that we’d do it anyway because we love to involve our audience. The little kids can sit right up to the glass to watch us, and over 480,000 people came to see us last year. 

We have a fantastic big pool to play in and a beach area to sunbathe in the summer. Although our displays are probably shorter than those performed in the theatres in Blackpool, we do cram in a lot! We wave, pick up litter, avoid sharks and even roll over to show how the vet can check us over to make sure we’re fit. (I bet they don’t do that in the theatres!)  We do up to four displays a day in the summer, and we get to meet people afterwards, too. 

We think we deserve an award for our fantastic live entertainment and education, even for the times when we’ve been really naughty and not stuck to the script! Nobody boos us if we get it wrong – it makes people laugh even more! 

We do have a serious side to our work, though. We have raised thousands of pounds for the conservation of Mediterranean monk seals which are now critically endangered. Of course, if you want to know the difference between a seal and a sealion, come and see us soon and we’ll show you.

Thank you for reading. We have our flippers crossed, although we know we have a lot of competition in Blackpool, but no other venue can boast the resort’s ONLY sealions! Vote Active Oceans at Blackpool Zoo!

Love from Anya x