Today, SeaWorld announced that in addition to phasing out its killer whale shows over the next three years, the company will shut down the breeding program that keeps its tanks full.
This is the equivalent of Disney announcing they would not renew their copyrights on Mickey Mouse – it’s a complete about-face on their previous position and will radically change the nature of all three parks.
This and a series of other changes have come about in a partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), one of the biggest advocates of ending killer whale captivity:
“These two organizations have been long-time adversaries, but we’re excited now to see the company transforming its operations for the better on animal welfare,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. “Today’s announcement signals that the era of captive display of orcas will end and that SeaWorld will redouble its work around rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals in crisis and partner with us to tackle global threats to marine creatures.”
Obviously this is a victory for animal welfare advocates everywhere, but it’s also a victory for grassroots activism and whistle-blowing of all kinds. It took Dawn Brancheau’s death for OSHA to step in and insist that people stay out of the tanks (and SeaWorld losing the many appeals that followed), and HSUS and marine scientists have been fighting SeaWorld for decades to no avail. It wasn’t until regular people stopped buying tickets in droves that SeaWorld became willing to budge. Authors Tim Zimmerman (Killer in the Pool) and David Kirby (Death at SeaWorld), director Gabriela Copperthwaite (Blackfish), and the former SeaWorld trainers who spoke out against the company all deserve a lot of credit for bringing the public’s attention to the issue, but it was the public’s response that finally, finally, brought about meaningful change.
It should be noted that none of the press releases I’ve seen include plans for SeaWorld’s belugas or dolphins, and there are still many killer whales in tanks around the world doing tricks — there’s still a lot of work to do.
It also puts a bit of a damper on some of the diaries I’ve had to put off because of a family emergency, but I could not be more thrilled to refer to killer whale captivity as we’ve known it in the US in the past tense. Here’s to today’s victory for anti-captivity advocates and a brighter future for whales and dolphins around the world!
Thursday, Mar 17, 2016 · 6:55:00 PM +00:00 · The Katwoman
UPDATE: Reactions to the news via Twitter:
Former trainers Dr. Jeffrey Ventre, Dr. John Jett, Carol Ray, and Samantha Berg
Former Senior Trainer John Hargrove
Writer Tim Zimmerman
Former dolphin trainer and activist Ric O’Barry (The Cove)
Dame Jane Goodall