On Thursday, SeaWorld Entertainment announced that he breeding of killers whales will come to and end after years of pressure from animal rights activists. The decision from SeaWorld to stop the killer whales’ breeding was widely celebrated by animal rights groups as well as people in disagreement with having animals confined to live their lives in a fish tank.
For the ones who oppose having animals as work slaves in shows, its satisfying news hearing that the breeding program will end immediately as well as theatrical shows featuring killer whales will come to an anticipated end. SeaWorld states that it will introduce new shows that are being described as new, inspiring natural orca encounters, yet it remains to be seen.
SeaWorld Entertainment assures that new shows will begin by 2017 at the SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.’s San Diego Park. As said by the chief executive officer of SeaWorld, this decision will mark a new direction for the theme park company to follow.
It’s worth noticing that the theme park company’s CEO Joel Manby also said the decision is not one to take lightly as it represents a difficult task for them to turn from theatrical shows involving killer whales.
Up until now, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. has theme parks located in San Diego, San Antonio and of course, Orlando. It also counts with 29 whales under the theme park’s care and considering most of them were born in captivity, the possibility for SeaWorld to let them loose in the ocean remains uncertain.
A tumultuous past for SeaWorld
The theme park company has been breeding killer whales since the late 80’s, resulting in only five of them captured in the wild, while the others only know the insides of the tank they live in. Such amazing animals, able to reach incredible underwater speeds and capable of traveling hundreds of miles in a day, it seems a crime to imprison whales or orcas for entertainment purposes.
For years the SeaWorld parks have received many criticism for their treatment of the captive marine mammals, yet it appears as if the theme park company wants to make amends with its audience.
In recent developments, the theme park company announced it would join forces with the Humane Society of the United States in order to push for an end to commercial whaling and activities that threaten marine animals. For this, SeaWorld plans to set a $50 million fund to see results over the next five years, if not sooner.
Source: LA Times