SeaWorld to end orca shows at theme parks

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. said Thursday it was ending its killer whale shows and would offer visitors new “natural orca encounters” at its theme parks.

The marine mammals will not be released in the wild because “these orcas could not survive in oceans that include environmental concerns such as pollution and other manmade threats,” SeaWorld said in a statement.

The breeding programs for killer whales and shows are being ended in response to changes in “society’s understanding of orcas,” SeaWorld said, adding that it had “not collected an orca from the wild in nearly 40 years.”

Animal rights group PETA, which has been waging a campaign against the theme park operator, called for the release of the orcas and all other animals at SeaWorld.

“While this decision is a step in the right direction, to do right by the orcas now, SeaWorld must move these longsuffering animals to ocean sanctuaries so that they may have some semblance of a natural life outside their prison tanks. And we must remember the other animals who will remain in captivity until SeaWorld does right by all of them,” PETA said in a statement.

The orcas will be kept at SeaWorld’s theme parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego.

The new attractions will be “inspiring, natural orca encounters, rather than theatrical shows,” SeaWorld said, adding that it would maintain its “ongoing commitment to education, marine science research, and rescue of marine animals.”

The changes will be implemented in San Diego in 2017 followed by San Antonio a year later and Orlando in 2019.

SeaWorld’s visitor numbers have been declining since 2013, when filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite released a documentary, titled “Blackfish,” about Tilikum, the male orca at Orlando’s SeaWorld involved in the death of its trainer.

During a show in 2010, the sixton killer whale grabbed trainer Dawn Brancheau’s hair in its mouth and dragged her to the bottom of the tank, where she drowned.

Tilikum was involved in the deaths of two other people before arriving at SeaWorld Orlando 23 years ago.

The documentary reopened the debate about keeping wild animals captive for shows in the United States.

“Blackfish,” dedicated to Tilikum, is estimated to have educated 400 million people about the species.

SeaWorld said earlier this month that Tilikum’s health was deteriorating as it neared the end of its life span.

Based on the orca’s size when it was captured in 1983, the park estimates Tilikum’s age at around 35 years, well past the average life span of male orcas.

About Whales and Dolphins, an environmental group, says 56 orcas were being kept in captivity as of December 2015, of which 23 had been captured in the ocean and 33 born in breeding programs.

Killer whales perform at about a dozen marine parks in Argentina, Canada, France, Spain, Russia, Japan and the United States.