SeaWorld\u2019s answer to animal-rights activists\u2019 charges that its killer-whale exhibit is commercial exploitation came Aug. 15 as the marine-mammal park announced plans to nearly double the size of its existing San Diego orca environment.
\nSeaWorld San Diego is to be the first of three SeaWorld parks to engage in the “Blue World Project,” which calls for the construction of a 10-million-gallon tank environment that is set to open to the public in 2018.
\nPark officials said the 50-foot-deep exhibit with a 1.5-acre surface area is expected to give park guests more access to viewing killer whales underwater and would allow the animals increased engagement with park experts. Plans for the tanks also include a “fast-water current,” which would allow the orcas to swim against moving water.
\n“Through up-close and personal encounters, the new environment will transform how visitors experience killer whales,\u2019” said SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. president\/ CEO Jim Atchison in a statement. “Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean or get a birds-eye view from above.\u2019\u2019
\nSeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. has also pledged $10 million in matching funds for killer-whale research and plans a “multi-million dollar partnership” to focus on ocean health, officials said. The research includes projects to understand killer whales\u2019 hearing ranges and gain information into their nutritional status and reproduction.
\n“For 50 years, SeaWorld has transformed how the world views marine life. The unprecedented access to marine mammals that our parks provide has increased our knowledge of the ocean and inspired generations,” Atchison said. “Our new killer-whale homes and research initiatives have just as bold a vision: to advance the global understanding of these animals, to educate and to inspire conservation efforts to protect killer whales in the wild.”
\nNot everyone was thrilled by the news of SeaWorld\u2019s orca-tank expansion.
\nMartha Sullivan, a volunteer community organizer who\u2019s been actively lobbying for the retirement of SeaWorld orcas, said SeaWorld\u2019s decision is all about the marine park\u2019s bottom line \u2014 not altruism.
\n“SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. reported revenues in 2013 of $2.4 billion,” said Sullivan. “The $10 million included in its \u2018Blue World\u2019 pitch for supposed \u2018research\u2019 to benefit wild orcas is 0.004 percent of their revenue.\u00a0Big deal. No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea,” said Sullivan, quoting legendary underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.
\nSullivan claimed that, of 137 orcas captured in the wild since 1961, 13 remain alive (three in San Diego), with an average lifespan of four years in captivity.\u00a0
\n“One of the three survivors here in San Diego, Corky, is the longest-held orca in captivity in the world, at 45 years this Dec. 11,” she wrote.\u00a0“Kasatka and Ulises, the other two wild-caught orca survivors in San Diego, have been in captivity for 35 years.\u00a0 When do these performing animals get to retire?\u00a0
\n“SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. is willing to spend several hundreds of millions of dollars to double the surface area of its orca tank in San Diego and add 15 feet of depth to the new half of it and subject the orca and other animals held nearby to the tremendous disruption of major construction over three years,” Sullivan concluded. “SWE Inc.\u2019s priorities are very clear.”
\nSeaWorld has taken a number of hits \u2014 both financially and in terms of public relations \u2014 in recent months. Animal-rights activists continue to regularly picket the park, protesting against orca captivity. Point Loma activist Alana Coons and others are petitioning the City Council to ask it to direct SeaWorld to only use fireworks alternatives for their nightly summer shows.?
\nIn the wording of an online petition drive protesting SeaWorld\u2019s pyrotechnics displays, Coons claims, “SeaWorld is damaging the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans who live within a 20-mile radius on a nightly basis every day for three months straight \u2026 The fireworks at SeaWorld constitute animal cruelty \u2026 We are asking the San Diego City Council to ban the fireworks at SeaWorld and ask them to switch to laser-light shows, which are kinder to animals and the environment and show a courteous and decent neighborly behavior to San Diegans.”
\nSeaWorld\u2019s stock has also reportedly dropped 33 percent recently because of declining attendance.
\nIn March, a controversial bill designed to ban orca shows in California\u00a0was introduced, but an Assembly committee delayed action on it to conduct further study.
\nFor more information on the Blue World Project, visit www.seaworld.com\/blueworld.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SeaWorld\u2019s answer to animal-rights activists\u2019 charges that its killer-whale exhibit is commercial exploitation came Aug. 15 as the marine-mammal park announced plans to nearly double the size of its existing San Diego orca environment. SeaWorld San Diego is to be the first of three SeaWorld parks to engage in the “Blue World Project,” which calls […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":263557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"ROOM TO ROAM: SeaWorld plans to double size of orca environment","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}