SeaWorld Entertainment lower after orcas ruling in California

The captive breeding ban was a last-minute amendment after an entire day’s hearing on Thursday affecting the San Diego SeaWorld facility. The commission said the expansion was approved “under a condition that would prohibit captive breeding, artificial insemination, and the sale, trade or transfer of any animal in captivity”.

The vote from the California agency was declared a victory for animal rights activists as it ultimately bans any future breeding of the whales. Whales at SeaWorld are not bored.

SeaWorld can no longer breed any of their signature whales in captivity.

Blue World would almost double the park’s orca habitat, with a 9.6 million-gallon pool and a 450,000-gallon tank featuring giant underwater viewing windows, a “treadmill” of moving water against which the orcas can swim and “rubbing beaches” where they can frolic in shallow water.

SeaWorld now has 11 orcas, but once they die, it would mean the end of SeaWorld’s live orca shows. “Depriving these social animals of the natural and fundamental right to reproduce is inhumane and we do not support this condition”. One of the charmingly idiosyncratic aspects of governance in California is that the Coastal Commission regulates all construction done within about 1000 yards of the coastline. SeaWorld says it hasn’t captured wild orcas in more than 30 years. The current 11 whales that are present are all that will be allowed to reside in the new habitat.

SeaWorld has come under heavy criticism in recently years, particularly after the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish” which specifically criticized the company’s orca programme. A few opponents of the expansion said they were concerned that breeding the orcas was the motive behind the expansion. In 2002, the state panel, deciding on a roller coaster project at SeaWorld, required that the park shield its whales and dolphins from the noise generated by the attraction. A former SeaWorld trainer, John Hargrove, worked in California and Texas and who wrote a book about his experiences as well as appeared in the film “Blackfish” spoke at the meeting. Matt Bruce of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the renovations would do nothing to improve conditions for the killer whales.