Shortly after SeaWorld announced the death of their most infamous Orca whales, Tilikum, the amusement park has made an even bigger, and, hopefully, welcome announcement. SeaWorld San Diego is putting an end to its long-running and once popular killer whale show.
What was once a main attraction for the sea creature themed park, has, in recent years, started fall in ticket sales. The show used to entertain guests with a variety of tricks and stunts performed by orcas and their trainers. Trainers would once swim in the pools with the whales, giving the massive creatures signals for specific tricks.
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After a trainer was killed in 2010 at the Orlando, Florida park, the show started to change. What’s more, the release of the film, Blackfish hurt ticket sales even more after it showed the poor living conditions of the whales.
So, in response to the low ticket sales and years of outcry, the SeaWorld San Diego has ended their orca show. The parks in Orlando and San Antonio will also be ending their shows in the next couple of years. The company has even decided to stop its orca breeding program.
The San Diego park will still have Orcas for guests to view. There will also be a new type of show debuted by the summer that will move away from the grand showmanship of the previous show and focus more on the activity the orca whales practice in the wild. It will also take place in a new, re-vamped pool.
“You will still see a while leaping out of the water,” said a former orca trainer, Al Garver. “We want to be able to demonstrate behaviors people would see in the wild with the killer whales and their abilities as a top predator in the sea. The vast majority of behaviors people have seen in our shows will be very suitable for demonstrating that.”
So, even though the San Diego park will still have orcas and an orca show, hopefully, the new show will be easier on the animals. Also, perhaps this is the beginning of an end to the entire orca show at the park, given they have ended their breeding program as well.
Do you think SeaWorld is taking a step in the right direction?
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[H/T Yahoo News]
