SeaWorld launches legal action over ban on breeding orcas

The initial ban on captive orca breeding at the park all started with SeaWorld’s lackluster attempt to improve its public image, by expanding the tanks at its San Diego aquarium with the proposed 0 million dollar “Blue World” project, which would expand its current 1.7 million gallon tanks to 5.2 million gallon tanks (sure, this would be an improvement for the whales, but still nowhere near the size of the ocean, where orcas can swim around 100 miles per day).

The suit filed in San Diego County superior court says the California Coastal Commission was outside its authority when it made the October ruling on breeding.

Eight of the SeaWorld’s 11 orcas at San Diego were bred in captivity but when the California Coastal Commission gave Blue World the go-ahead with the “no breeding” restrictions, SeaWorld made a decision to go to court. However, they approved the project under the condition that SeaWorld should not breed, sale, transfer or trade the killer whales.

“This last-minute “no breeding or transfer” condition is unprecedented”, SeaWorld said in the lawsuit, which claims the commission’s action is illegal because it has no jurisdiction over the orcas.

SeaWorld Entertainment Chief Executive Joel Manby has told investors that the parent company of SeaWorld San Diego may shelve the Blue World project.

SeaWorld officials vowed to sue to challenge the decision, saying the no-breeding clause would ultimately put an end to the park’s most popular exhibit, the killer whale show, the complaint said.

Noaki Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Coastal Commission, said the agency could not comment on the particulars of the lawsuit, but the commission said in a statement that it “stands by its decision in October to protect killer whales”.

“SeaWorld has not collected an orca from the wild in more than 35 years and has committed to not doing so in the future”, attorneys said.

Critics who attended the hearing questioned SeaWorld’s treatment of animals in captivity and demanded the park’s population of 11 orcas be released into the wild.

“The condition forces SeaWorld to either agree to the eventual demise of its lawful and federally-regulated orca exhibition, or withdraw the permit application and forego the effort to enhance the orcas’ habitat”, it alleges.

In its lawsuit, SeaWorld characterised the hearing as one that became “unhinged”.

The shows will continue at the company’s Orlando and San Antonio parks, which are not affected by the breeding ban.