# Have you ever seen a hippo doing water ballet? (Video) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942 "2014-02-22T06:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/1 "2014-02-22T06:54:04Z")
We were able to get some great video of the lady hippo at the Calgary Zoo having a good time doing some fancy water dancing a couple of weeks ago. [Video here.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYcq0wJjGvk) I didn’t even know hippos could do that! ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/2 "2014-02-22T15:32:08Z")
Breaching hippo - weird! I didn’t know they did that sort of thing either. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/3 "2014-02-22T15:32:59Z")
Yes, because I’ve seen [Fantasia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEjPDS8Jp1E). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/4 "2014-02-22T15:36:24Z")
Down by the bay! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/5 "2014-02-22T18:29:28Z")
There was no watermelon growing there, as far as I know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/6 "2014-02-22T20:04:05Z")
Has anyone ever wondered why it’s called a hippopotamus and not a hippochoiros? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/7 "2014-02-23T05:15:36Z")
I think you meant a choiropotamus. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/8 "2014-02-23T18:07:53Z")
No, but there are people who were drinking and saw pink elephants… ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/9 "2014-02-24T01:57:01Z")
I remember seeing cartoon hippos dancing and I thought it was just a joke about how silly it was for a fat animal to try to be graceful. Many years later, I saw a happy hippo mother from the under-water-level observatory at the Toledo Zoo and realized that the joke was on me. The baby hippo was cute, but the graceful elegance of the mother was astounding. I’ll never forget it. The hippo above is an amateur compared to the one I saw, nary a pirouette that I noticed. But the Toledo Zoo had more depth for her to play in, perhaps that was a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/10 "2014-02-24T05:19:57Z")
That makes me wonder what a hippo could do in a really huge, deep pool! ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/11 "2014-02-25T16:41:57Z")
I’ve been visiting the Calgary Zoo for as far back as I can remember and had never seen one of the hippos playing around like that until **Cat Whisperer** and I happened upon this show last month. It was fascinating to watch this enormous, murderous creature acting so graceful. Good Zoo visit! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-hippo-doing-water-ballet-video/681942/12 "2014-02-25T19:12:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I think you meant a choiropotamus. No way! They sing?!?