SeaWorld suing California over ban on orca breeding

Even though the California Coastal Commission voted in October to allow SeaWorld’s San Diego location to expand its orca tanks, a plan called Project Blue World that the company has been aggressively promoting for quite a while, SeaWorld still isn’t happy.

“The Coastal Commission is not the overseer of all activity that takes place in the coastal zone – its jurisdiction extends only to the regulation of development that affects the coastal or marine environment, including public access thereto”, the suit says.

CCC is the organism that has to approve the development of large buildings in coastal cities so it had to review the project of “Blue World” which included the expansion of the orca tank.

“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.

SeaWorld called the condition unprecedented and said the agency did not have the authority to make such a ban because its orcas “are not, in any way, part of the coastal or marine environment”.

“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 October’s seven-hour hearing questioned SeaWorld’s treatment of animals in captivity and demanded the park’s 11 orcas be released into the wild.

SeaWorld’s court filing comes less than a week after a US District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of marine park patrons in San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, claiming the company defrauded them in describing its treatment of its killer whales.

“The Coastal Commission process became unhinged”, the complaint states.

The twist of fate that came with SeaWorld’s granted wish, worthy of a fairy tale, was celebrated by animal advocates everywhere.

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. “Imagine standing at the bottom of a 40-foot glass wall and watching our whales swim against a fast current of water”.

Eight of SeaWorld’s 11 orcas are the result of captive breeding, the lawsuit said. SeaWorld announced a week later it would fight the ruling. “However, SeaWorld’s only chance of competing in the 21st century is to do what PETA has urged the company to do for years: Ditch the orca shows and tanks in favor of coastal sanctuaries for the animals and cutting-edge educational experiences without live animals for attendees”.