In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby announced that they would no longer breed orca whales.
The big news comes after the theme park publicly battled animal rights activists for years and after SeaWorld took a lot of heat in the documentary Blackfish.
Manby says that there’s been growing interest in getting orca whales out of human care, and tells us that lawmakers have put increasing pressure on SeaWorld to take the creatures out of captivity. “Lawmakers in Sacramento and even in the U.S. House of Representatives have proposed legislation to phase out orca captivity. Even the California Coastal Commission — a state agency with oversight over land use and public access — moved last year to ban orca breeding at SeaWorld San Diego,” he writes.
“Now we need to respond to the attitudinal change that we helped to create — which is why SeaWorld is announcing several historic changes. This year we will end all orca breeding programs — and because SeaWorld hasn’t collected an orca from the wild in almost four decades, this will be the last generation of orcas in SeaWorld’s care. We are also phasing out our theatrical orca whale shows.”
However, the orca whales currently under SeaWorld’s care will not be freed. Here’s why, according to Manby:
Most of our orcas were born at SeaWorld, and those that were born in the wild have been in our parks for the majority of their lives. If we release them into the ocean, they will likely die. In fact, no orca or dolphin born under human care has ever survived release into the wild. Even the attempt to return the whale from “Free Willy,” Keiko, who was born in the wild, was a failure.
For as long as they live, the orcas at SeaWorld will stay in our parks. They’ll continue to receive the highest-quality care, based on the latest advances in marine veterinary medicine, science and zoological best practices.
Although SeaWorld may only be making this decision because they are facing a hell of a lot of pressure, it’s still nice to see that they’re making the right moves.
Last year SeaWorld received approval to build larger tanks for their whales.
Source: The Los Angeles Times
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