SeaWorld announced a few days ago that their much scrutinized whale breeding program will finally come to an end.
SeaWorld has copped a lot of flak in the last few years. In the span of about a year (not coincidentally the same year Blackfish came out), they went from being a respected rescue and rehabilitation facility to a company that many looked at as a cruel animal prison. Which kind of made sense, as they stole wild, highly intelligent animals from their families and stuck them in tiny pools for our enjoyment. Then, they started breeding orcas for captivity, and kept up the facade that they were doing it for research purposes. Clearly, though, it was more about the money–training an orca to jump through a hoop hasn’t got much to do with researching killer whales in the wild. But a few days ago, they finally announced that they’ll no longer be breeding orcas. That’s a good thing. Too bad it took generations of sad whales and years of people yelling at SeaWorld to stop.
It is, though, a huge victory for anyone concerned with animal welfare. “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,” said Joel Manby, the CEO of SeaWorld. They’ve also decided to stop the theatrical orca shows.
The decision came about after an agreement with the Human Society of the United States was reached. After a few years of escalating problems, highly publicized animal deaths, and plummeting attendance to the parks, the California Coastal Commission dealt SeaWorld a bit of a death blow last year. SeaWorld asked to expand their tanks, which on the outside, sounded like a good thing. They had ulterior motives, though: they wanted the extra room to breed more orcas. The CCC told them they’d be able to build bigger tanks IF they agreed to stop breeding orcas. SeaWorld was outraged, and immediately filed lawsuits fighting the decision. It didn’t work though, and now SeaWorld has caved under the pressure of the public.
“This is a first, massive step forward toward a more humane future for SeaWorld,” said Dr. Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist. “I welcome these commitments from Joel Manby. He has given SeaWorld a new lease on life.”
The move has already made a huge difference to the company. By Thursday morning, just a few days after the announcement, SeaWorld’s stock had risen almost 5 percent. Although this is good news for the future of the animals at SeaWorld, it comes after decades of cruel treatment, unhappy whales, and both whale and human deaths.
