SeaWorld announced Friday it will build the first-of-its-kind killer whale environment in San Diego and spend $10 million on programs to protect ocean health and killer whales in the wild.
“For 50 years, SeaWorld has transformed how the world views marine life. The unprecedented access to marine mammals that our parks provide has increased our knowledge of the ocean and inspired generations,” said Jim Atchison, president and chief executive officer of SeaWorld Entertainment.
“Our new killer whale homes and research initiatives have just as bold a vision: to advance global understanding of these animals, to educate, and to inspire conservation efforts to protect killer whales in the wild,” he said.
The announcement comes as SeaWorld has been stung by criticism in the film documentary Blackfish, which the company says is inaccurate, and by protests organized by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Park attendance and the parent company’s stock price have suffered.
Atchison said the Blue World Project will double that amount of water devoted to killer whales at the San Diego park. With a planned maximum depth of 50 feet, surface area of nearly 1.5 acres and spanning more than 350 feet in length, the new environment will provide guests with the world’s largest underwater viewing experience of killer whales.
“Through up-close and personal encounters, the new environment will transform how visitors experience killer whales,” said Atchison. “Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean, or a birds-eye view from above.”
He said the new environment will support the whales’ broad range of behaviors and provide choices that can challenge the whales both physically and mentally. It will include a “fast water current” that allows whales to swim against moving water, thus functionally increasing speed and diversity.
The San Diego environment is expected to open to the public in 2018 with new killer whale homes to follow at SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Antonio.
As part of the Blue World Project, SeaWorld has committed $10 million in matching funds focused on threats to killer whales in the wild, especially those identified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration related to the endangered southern resident killer whale.
SeaWorld will also engage an independent advisory panel of scientists to bring new perspectives and ideas to the project. The panel will focus on the creation of an environment that maximizes the health and wellbeing of the animals.
“I have high expectations for SeaWorld in light of today’s announcement that major investments will improve the experience and outcomes for whales both in their parks and in the wild,” said California Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins.
“SeaWorld’s decision to engage with an independent scientific advisory panel is a reassuring sign for the ongoing health and welfare of these amazing creatures. Given the San Diego region’s leadership in the life sciences, I expect orcas and other whale species to directly benefit from the research and advances that come from the academic and scientific partnerships SeaWorld is building to address whale habitat and ocean health,” she said.
In March, a controversial bill designed to ban killer whale shows in California was introduced, but an Assembly committee later referred it for further study, which could take about a year.
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