California has now become the first state to put a complete end on the breeding of killer whales and of using animals in private theatrical shows.
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Gov. Jerry Brown, CA-D, signed a bill on Tuesday banning the practice. Passed after years of controversy about keeping killer whales to entertain humans, under this law, the orcas, already in captivity can be used only for “educational presentations” to be starting in June next year, reports Reuters.com.
There have been countless demonstrations condemning SeaWorld following the release of Blackfish – a film which criticized the cruel nature of orca captivity.
Hopefully this will be the last generation of orcas in captivity and the San Diego branch’s 2019 display will not include any killer whales.
In a massive win for killer whales, California has just outlawed all orca breeding and performance.
Tuesday’s news was heralded by several animal welfare groups as a significant step forward for orca welfare; In Defense of Animals (IDA) described the legislation as an “historic achievement”.
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SeaWorld has previously said they intend to phase out the current show styles – where the whales perform tricks – by next year. However, scientific and educational institutions that have killer whales for research and rehabilitation are exempted from the new law. Parks and companies that will break the new law will be fined up to $100,000. A SeaWorld executive says orca shows at the company’s San Diego park will end by 2017. This all means that, very soon, we won’t been seeing orca shows in the state anymore. Then, it will be integrated into SeaWorld’s other two parks. But it was not until recently, with the release of the documentary Blackfish, that the public was fully aware of the torment faced by whales in captivity. SeaWorld claims that since its remaining orcas have never lived in the wild, they could not survive in the open oceans.
