The company that owns the amusement park, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, says on their website that the film “conveys falsehoods, manipulates viewers emotionally and relies on questionable filmmaking techniques to create “facts” that support its point of view”. SeaWorld wants to greatly expand the tanks it uses to…
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The California Coastal Commission approved the growth of the park’s Shamu “killer whale” facility.
“SeaWorld’s tanks, regardless of size, deny these highly intelligent animals the social bonds, open space, freedom, and stimulation that they would have in their natural ocean homes”, said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hailed the ruling as a step toward ending orca captivity in California. “Captive orcas are heavily medicated”.
The staff of the commission has recommended approving the expansion under nine conditions that include forbidding SeaWorld from housing recently captured orcas in San Diego.
“We are disappointed with the conditions that the California Coastal Commission placed on their approval of the Blue World Project, and will carefully review and consider our options”, SeaWorld spokesman David Koontz said in an email.
Experts from the California Coastal Commission (CCC) will vote following a report they issued last month in favour of allowing SeaWorld to go ahead with its so-called Blue World Project. SeaWorld is a sea circus, and the orcas are its abused elephants.
The vote followed a daylong hearing during which dozens of speakers argued for and against expansion.
However, the commission’s approval comes with the provision that no new whales from the wild will be kept there.
During testimony, SeaWorld staff said the bigger enclosure will improve conditions for the whales and help park visitors better appreciate the orcas.
SeaWorld’s treatment of captive orcas has come under enhanced scrutiny since the release of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish“, which suggested that the stress of captivity can provoke violence in orcas.
Orlando-based SeaWorld announced plans for the tank expansions in August 2014, two days after posting poor quarterly earnings that sent its stock plunging more than 30 percent.
At the meeting, SeaWorld veterinarian Hendrik Nollens disputed what he called “outlandish accusations” from critics of the park.
Opponents said the larger tanks are still a harmful environment for whales. “These orcas are robbed of everything that is natural to them”.
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“The California Coastal Commission did right by orcas”, PETA said in an emailed statement. Bochno said captivity is harmful to the whales. Activists said mating in captivity produces unhealthy relationships and cited one case of a mother orca rejecting both of her calves.
