Just announced, SeaWorld is to end the captive breeding of Killer Whales at all of its parks marking an eventual end to the theatrical shows involving Orcas.
SeaWorld president and CEO Joel Manby said in the same news release:
As one of the largest rescue organizations in the world, we will increase our focus on rescue operations— so that the thousands of stranded marine mammals like dolphins and sea lions that cannot be released back to the wild will have a place to go.
Essentially this means that the current Killer Whales in SeaWorld parks will be the last we shall likely see, however it is impossible to release the current animals into the wild due to the fact they will likely die.
This news comes as a victory for animal welfare activists who have been campaigning for this since the release of Blackfish 3 years ago.
SeaWorld plans on phasing out the shows over the next 3 years in favour of more natural environments for the whales, they had this to say on the matter:
We will introduce new, inspiring, natural orca encounters rather than theatrical shows, as part of our ongoing commitment to education, marine science research and the rescue of marine animals.
I am still a very firm believer in what SeaWorld does as a whole, they do a lot for the animals of our seas however it is really encouraging to see them tackle this issue at last, lets hope everyone, including SeaWorld can get over this issue and get back to focusing on the care of animals.
Ryan has been attending theme parks since as long as he can remember and his first proper memory comes from when he was just three years old sitting in Main Street USA drinking a Nesquik milkshake from a carton while the piano was being played outside Casey’s Corner.