Damn. That should be Memphis.
It’s hard to choose. I actually really like and am fascinated by people (luckily for me, my job involves both people and animals - there are some folks who are far more comfortable with animals than with people though.)
Of the non-people mammals, humpback whales have a special place - they’re the first kind of marine mammal I ever saw in the wild (when I was 10 years old), they’re amazingly friendly and awe-inspiring in their sheer size, movements - especially breaching - and behavior. I’ve seen many humpbacks come right up to boats, swim alongside us, dive underneath and come up the other side, and generally act curious around people.
I’m also a really big fan of harbor seals. They’re extremely cute and confident in the water. I’ve had harbor seals approach my diving buddy and nip at his fins (he thought I was doing it at first!), and they’re just awesome to watch swim. I also enjoy watching them haul out of the water, especially during the pupping season when the pups are starting to swim and watching them try to climb out onto the rocks next to the adults is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen.
It’s just incredibly hard to pick just one mammal to like.
My favorite animal of all, however, is the octopus.
Public Service note: Please always act responsibly around wildlife. Marine mammals should be viewed from a minimum distance of 100 yards. If they approach your boat, please reduce speed and/or cut the engine. Thank you! 
Sea otters are not among my favorites, though. They give me the willies.
Yeah, but did you know that another post just a few clicks away in MPSIMS right now says that Dolphins are evil?
So, is “Billy the Theme Park Shark” a semi-accurate description of what happens to enclosed sea creatures? In other words, do sharks, dolphins, whales, etc, held at MarineLand for most of their lives become unable to readjust to the wild?
I saw that one. It’s true that dolphins in the water can appear surprisingly threatening - the same goes for seals and sea lions. When you’re swimming near them, it’s unnerving to have such a large carnivore able to come at you out of nowhere (usually they’re aware of your presence long before you’re aware of theirs), swim right at you, and sometimes literally even swim circles around you. All those teeth don’t necessarily look friendly, either. It’s easy to forget that in the vast majority of human-marine mammal interaction in the wild, the marine mammal is the one more likely to be harmed.
I’m not sure quite what happened in the OP’s history there, but it appears that he’s developed a healthy respect for some wild predators.
Nice song! I’m gonna have to remember that one. Sharks I’m not too sure about - they’re not really a group I’ve worked with much except when they’re dead. I do know that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is working on it’s second white shark in captivity, and had to release the first after she showed significantly abberant behavior (I’m not sure whether this constituted banging into the sides of the tank, showing undesireable feeding interest in her tankmates, or both - I’ve heard both possibilities).
Whales, dolphins, and pinnipeds show similar difficulties in captivity. They quickly acclimate to the constant presence of humans and human demands on their behavior. The Orca Keiko is probably the best example. He starred in the movie Free Willy and was subsequently freed from captivity himself. He spent several years becoming more adjusted to life in the ocean and ever-increasing degrees of freedom (initially he wouldn’t even feed on his own) until his death in 2003, approximately one year after his release into a come and go at-will situation, but seven years after the project to return him to the ocean finally acquired him from Mexico City in 1996.
One of the goals in our care for marine mammals is to prevent this sort of dependence on humans, a difficult task in a veterinary medicine context.