California Tells SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Killer Whales

“SeaWorld is a sea circus, and the orcas are its abused elephants”. “Breeding is a natural, fundamental and important part of an animal’s life, and depriving a social animal of the right to reproduce is inhumane”, the company added in a statement.

“PETA is looking located on the California Coastal Commission to actually poll down GulfWorld’s Blue World Project, because what actually the majority of these orcas need is appears right into a beach…”

After the commission’s decision, SeaWorld San Diego Park President John Reilly said SeaWorld is “disappointed with the conditions that the California Coastal Commission placed on their approval of the Blue World Project”.

CBS San Diego says the commission staff recommended approval after SeaWorld officials pledged that the facility will not house any orcas taken from the wild after February 12, 2014, nor will it utilize killer whale genetic material taken from the wild after the same date. SeaWorld said it was considering its options.

While the decision was lauded by animal rights activists, it would only ban the breeding of captive orcas, including through artificial insemination, in the company’s California park but not in its facilities in other states. Dayna Bochco, the commissioner who made the amendment to halt breeding and transfers from SeaWorld, said captivity harms the whales. “This new tank does not meet even (the most) basic requirements”, she said. He said at the meeting, according to the AP, “We care for these animals as if they were family”.

As the hours-long meeting dragged on, Reilly told the commission the park would be willing to accept a cap of 15 orcas, but banning breeding at the park would eventually lead to the “extinction” of the orca program. The whales are enriched and stimulated, he said, not stressed or depressed.

According to a CNN report, which quoted attending actress Pamela Anderson, saying, “No whale is happy in a bathtub”, this is the biggest issue the Coastal Commission has faced in its 40-year history. “The 2013 documentary, ‘Blackfish, ‘ exposed the stressful conditions under which orcas are captured in the wild and kept in captivity”. “Orcas in the wild swim over 100 miles per day-that would be 1,500 laps in the new tank”.

It also battled two highly-publicized lawsuits over its treatment of animals, one brought by PETA and another by shareholders, and was the focus of proposed legislation in California that sought to ban the captivity of orcas.

Such restrictions on the expansion force SeaWorld San Diego to choose between the future of orca life at the park and providing a massive new habitat in the near future. “Blue World is going to be a great enhancement to our habitat for whales, but also for researchers and guests”.