SeaWorld to end killer whale breeding in captivity
SeaWorld announced Thursday it would no longer breed killer whales in captivity at any of its parks, making its current generation of orcas its last. The move comes after years of public pressure and declining fortunes.
The orcas now at the parks "will continue to live at SeaWorld for many years to come, inspiring guests in new and natural ways," the company said. But it said it would also phase out its live theatrical shows where the animals do tricks with human trainers.
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It would be too dangerous to release the whales into the wild, CEO Joel Manby said in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. No orca or dolphin born under human care has survived release, he said.
Manby credited SeaWorld's orca show with changing public opinion about the animals over the last half century.
"When the first SeaWorld Park opened in 1964, orcas, or killer whales, were not universally loved."
"When the first SeaWorld Park opened in 1964, orcas, or killer whales, were not universally loved, to put it mildly," he wrote. "Instead, they were feared, hated and even hunted."
Now, since public opinion has changed, the park is changing.
SeaWorld was already fighting a California ruling from October that had banned orca breeding at its San Diego park.
The move comes as perhaps the ultimate culmination of an animal rights movement spurred in large part by the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which exposed what it called inhumane treatment of the whales in captivity.
Animal rights activists, and notably PETA, have waged a constant campaign against SeaWorld for years.
"PETA has campaigned hard, and now there is a payoff for future generations of orcas – but today is the day to stop breeding, not sometime later this year," PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement emailed to Mashable. "SeaWorld must open its tanks to the oceans to allow the orcas it now holds captive to have some semblance of a life outside these prison tanks."
Although SeaWorld has previously responded to calls to free the animals with the same message Manby included in Thursday's op-ed, PETA has repeatedly said it is not enough.
On Wednesday, PETA released its latest ad, featuring actress Kate del Castillo, encouraging people to stop visiting SeaWorld's "orca graveyard."
In the past two years, SeaWorld's stock has sunk by nearly 50%, although attendance in the latest quarter showed a small rise, from 4.37 million to 4.41 million. Revenue fell to $1.37 billion in 2015 from $1.38 billion a year earlier.
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In his op-ed, Manby said SeaWorld would take steps beyond ending the orca breeding program.
He announced a partnership with the Humane Society to "work against commercial whaling and seal hunts, shark finning and ocean pollution," as well as raise awareness about endangered species.
Manby cited estimates that 50% of large animal species could go extinct in the next century "unless humans awaken and take action."
"Without a critical mass of informed and energized people," he wrote, "humanity will never make the difficult decisions that are necessary to halt and reverse the exploitation of wild places and the extinction of wild species."
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Jonathan Ellis is Managing Editor at Mashable. He oversees the daily news report and manages Mashable’s team of news editors. He also works closely with Mashable's product team in developing new tools and ways of reaching and interacting Mashable's audience. Prior to Mashable, Jonathan was at the New York Times in a number of positions since 2006. He was most recently senior editor for digital platforms, leading a team of newsroom editors who helped tailor the Times’ mobile products and news report. He is a graduate of Brown University where he studied public policy and computer science.
