SeaWorld Announces the End of Killer Whale Shows, Captive Breeding Program

There’s going to be a lot of happy animal rights activists today. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment announced Thursday morning that their current generation of killer whales will be their last, and that they are ending their whale breeding program.

Ever since the documentary Blackfish brought the company’s practices to light, the amusement chain’s treatment of animals has been criticized far and wide by PETA and various others. In a statement released by the company, they promised that they would phase out their theatrical whale shows over the next three years, and use their remaining programs to demonstrate how to maintain orca health in more natural environs.

“Society is changing and we’re changing with it,” the announcement said. “SeaWorld is finding new ways to continue to deliver on our purpose to inspire all our guests to take action to protect wild animals and wild places.”

PETA put out a statement today that applauded the move as a “payoff” to the whales, but President Ingrid E. Newkirk also demanded that SeaWorld act faster to give the whales “some semblance of a life outside these prison tanks.” SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby also issued an op-ed to the Los Angeles Times, where he explained why the company wouldn’t be releasing their whales born in captivity.

“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,” Manby wrote. “If we release them into the ocean, they will likely die.”

[h/t USA Today]
[image via wikimedia]