This is major change for the controversial company.
It wasn’t long ago that “Blackfish,” a very popular, eye-opening documentary, brought our attention to the harm that SeaWorld was doing to orcas. The documentary featured traumatic images and startling facts that caused SeaWorld to see a dramatic dip in sales. SeaWorld is ready to clean up its image!
This past week, SeaWorld announced in a blog post that it would be making a major change to its killer whale program that features Orcas. The orcas that are currently in captivity at the aquarium will be the final generation that they feature in captivity.
The blog states, “SeaWorld has been listening and we’re changing. Society is changing and we’re changing with it. SeaWorld is finding new ways to continue to deliver on our purpose to inspire all our guest to take action to protect wild animals and wild places.”
The post clarifies common misconceptions and unknown facts, as well. SeaWorld claims that they haven’t collected any new orcas in over 40 years, and “the orcas at SeaWorld were either born there or have spent almost their entire lives in human care.” SeaWorld will not be releasing their current orcas into the wild because they wouldn’t be able to survive. After living in captivity and being cared for by humans, adapting to their would-be habitat would be impossible and deadly.
The ending that they are talking about is the breeding program that has been largely debated and protested against by activists.
A major move by the organization is the interaction between human and whale. SeaWorld was once known for its theatrics which brought profits, attention, controversy, and unfortunate events. With the halting of the breeding program, comes the shift in show styles.
The shows will now be based on natural interactions with the whales.
“Everything will reflect the natural world and will focus on the research, education, care and respect that align with our mission to advance the well-being and conservation of these beautiful creatures, “said SeaWorld on their website.
Interaction will still occur at the posted show times, but settings will be redesigned to be more “natural.” These changes will occur at all locations by 2019.