State regulators are considering a plan to expand Sea World’s whale tanks

“I want to protect the orcas”.

It seems the commission agrees with her.

The California Coastal Commission Thursday approved the bid by SeaWorld to expand the tanks the company uses to hold killer whales in San Diego, but banned the breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.

The panel has been flooded by tens of thousands of emails against the project that opponents also say represents a marketing ploy to boost plummeting park attendance.

“It really raised a lot of awareness about what goes on behind the scenes at SeaWorld”, said Gorman.

Blue World is a $100 million project that would expand SeaWorld San Diego’s current killer whale habitat to 10 million gallons.

Jared Goodman, director of litigation for PETA, said pressure from animal rights groups pushed the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland to ban bull hooks, the tools used by circuses to train elephants.

SeaWorld San Diego will not be allowed to populate the tanks with new orcas caught in the wild or with orcas bred in captivity.

A typical email of opposition the commission received said the orcas should be freed from captivity and placed in seaside sanctuaries. The park announced the expansion plans in 2013, and has been receiving both praise and criticism for the project.

The hearing before the Coastal Commission was moved to the Long Beach Convention Center to accommodate a crowd of over 600 attendees for and against the proposal.

SeaWorld said it was disappointed by the conditions attached to the approval of its “Blue World” expansion, which is set to open in 2018.

An aerial view of SeaWorld San Diego. Those opposed included animal activists led by groups such as PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

The development is a significant blow to SeaWorld with orcas a major tourist attraction, despite the recent controversies over the treatment of orcas. The whales are enriched and stimulated, he said, not stressed or depressed.

“We care for these animals as if they were family”, Nollens told the panel. “We have nothing but the whales’ best interests at heart”.

“[Orcas] don’t belong in captivity”, said Commissioner Bochco.

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, however, lamented the vote. “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”, SeaWorld said after the decision, adding it “will carefully review and consider our options”. Officials said the SeaWorld has not captured killer whales in decades.