It's showtime in Napier!

For 35 years Napier's Marineland has entertained families but its future, CAMERON WILLIAMSON discovers, is uncertain.

Roll up! Roll up! If you liked Flipper, you'll love this, kids. See Shona jump through hoops and ring her bell for lunch! See Kelly leap towards the sun!

There's nothing like a live show to grab your attention, and tooling around Hawkes Bay during the school holidays, Marineland's stucco grandstand seemed to draw us in with its promise of live action and friendly sea creatures.

The marine zoo takes pride of place on Napier's Norfolk-pined promenade. It stands apart from the city's world-famous Deco buildings, but its stucco walls and porthole windows fit its edge-of-the-island location above the wildly churning shingle shore that signals "next stop South America."

The place is an iconic memory in the lives of millions of Kiwis, and has lost none of its charm as good, strong, family entertainment. It's complimentary to say it probably hasn't changed much since it opened in 1965. Longtime manager Gary MacDonald, who started as a trainer 30 years ago, happily admits that among Marineland's 75,000 visitors each year its staple customers are "the mum, dad and two-veg" family groups visiting during school holidays.

For city kids, even ones lucky enough to live in a small coastal country, knowledge of the oceanic mammals, reptiles, birds and plants is mainly derived from wall charts, books and the internet and maybe a school or family visit to a marine zoo. To see dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, turtles and gannets in the flesh brings that book-knowledge to life.

To swim among them and hand-feed them is on another planet altogether.

On our mum, dad and two kids school holiday trip itinerary, the show at Marineland started as kid pro quo for the adults' desire to mosey around vineyards and take in some civilised meals. But there was another compelling reason: Isabel, aged 7, was busy preparing for a talk on dolphins for the school speech competition. So off up to Marine Parade we went.

We took our seats in the sun-drenched grandstand with an almost full complement of other rug'n'thermos families. Even without the main dolphin pool and its mural backdrop, the view of the full hook of Hawkes Bay from Cape Kidnappers to Mahia was worth the $22 family (two adults, two kids) entrance fee.

But then the fun began. Marineland's resident common dolphins, Shona and Kelly are both old dames. Common dolphins have a life expectancy of 20 years; these two are both more than 30. And they know the tricks by heart - waving to the crowd, tail-dancing, balancing balls, synchronised high jumping - nipping back to their trainers for a tidbit in between. The thrilled yells from the crowd as the dolphins burst through the surface from nowhere showed the audience was loving the show.

If these silky dames are the Supremes of the ocean, then Pepe the 300kg Californian sea lion has got to be Barry White. His routine includes a big bass laugh and a tail splash big enough to shower the front rows.

Backstage after the show, Jacqui, a trainer, introduced us to other sea lions, leopard seals, fur seals, otters and Lilly, a blue penguin needing treatment.

I only realised I was nervous when she said: "Right you two, get your wetsuits on, you're going to swim in the main pool." Because she was under 10, Isabel needed an adult with her. Her mother decided that adult was me.

We struggled into damp rubber and padded past Pepe's enclosure and beyond the danger signs. While the mother and brother shouted encouragement from the side, Isabel and I slipped on flippers, snorkels and mask, partly because the water in the main pool was 15 deg C, but also to go some way towards evening the odds. We were definitely meeting these creatures on their terms, on their turf.

"Just slip into the water quietly," Jacqui told us, "the dolphins will take a minute to warm up."

We bobbed along, buoyant in our thick suits, and before long first Kelly, and then shy Shona, began making fast passes within arm's length of us. That's when we realised they were a bit longer than us (about 2m), a bit bigger (100kg), but as streamlined and fast as a torpedoes. We felt as agile, in comparison, as a pair of black blancmanges.

They twirled and spun and laughed their way around us, never letting us forget who was in charge, but as endearing as a pair of Labrador pups, cackling and whistling and smiling.

Twenty minutes flashed by, and it was time for a feed. With constant help and calm instruction from the trainers, we fed a bucketful of bite-sized lumps of salmon and pilchards one by one into the dolphins' eager, well-toothed mouths.

Kelly would dash off for a sprint around the pool between mouthfuls and Shona never tired of hauling off to ring her bell. When we left, exhausted, to change, we felt we'd made a couple of friends.

It set me thinking about the value of established zoos such as Marineland. MacDonald says there is more demand than ever, and attendances around the world continue to grow. From 53 marine parks internationally in 1998, there are now 174 in 42 countries, drawing 60 million people annually.

The anti-zoo lobby has strong views about the exploitation of captured mammals and on taking animals from the wild. They have compelling arguments for their case: animals born free should remain free.

But when so many natural environments are threatened by these "free" animals' planetary co-habitants, the education value of marine zoos becomes more valuable.

This is as close as many people will get to dolphins. The empathy they develop for the cause of conservation is incalculable. And yet a comprehensive Napier City Council review of Marineland is considering whether to fund its future or effectively shut it down.

We had a word to the dolphins about that: Shona, Kelly, Isabel and I came to the conclusion that Marineland is an invaluable resource that should be supported.

Casenotes

GETTING THERE: Marineland is on Marine Parade, Napier, Hawkes Bay. Shows jump into life every day except Christmas, 10.30 am and 2 pm, rain or shine. From Boxing Day to the second weekend in January there is an extra show at 4 pm.

SHOWS: Bookings are not needed for the show, just turn up at least 20 minutes early in the summer to get a good seat. The show usually lasts between 30 and 40 minutes (depending how well behaved the animals are), and is followed by the feeding of the California sea lions, New Zealand fur seals, and otters. Little kids who couldn't sit through a whole show can meet the animals afterwards for $3 (adults $4). Costs: Adults $9; children $4. Family Pass from $21 (2 adults, 1 child) to $30 (2 Adults and 5 children).

SWIMS: Bookings for swimming with the dolphins - swims are at noon every day, are essential. During summer months Marineland recommends booking a month in advance. Don't worry about the water temp, they have a wide range of wetsuits. Hiring a wetsuit, mask, snorkel and flippers is $10 extra on the $40 swim price. Children under 10 must have an adult swimming with them and only two swimmers are allowed in the pool at a time.

More info at Marineland, or ph (06) 834 4027.