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California bans SeaWorld’s killer whale shows and breeding program

The decision follows the park’s promise to end its controversial orca shows

Justin Carissimo

New York

Wednesday 14 September 2016 04:57 BST

Children get a close-up view of an orca SeaWorld in San Diego, California in 2014. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

California has banned SeaWorld’s killer whale breeding program and entertainment shows under a new measure signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday.

The decision follows the park’s promise earlier this year to end its controversial orca shows.

Under the new measure, a bill titled SB839, corporations, and individuals are prohibited from breeding killer whales in captivity. Those who break the new law can be fined up to $100,000.

The bill’s author, Democratic Assemblyman Richard Bloom from Santa Monica, made an exception for educational institutions who intend on researching and rehabilitating the marine mammals. Mr Bloom celebrated Governor Brown’s decision on Twitter late Tuesday night.

“Very pleased to announce that my law protecting #orca from captive breeding in California was signed by @JerryBrownGov today,” he wrote.

The company still holds 24 orcas in captivity at parks in California, Texas, and Florida. In a statement, SeaWorld said that the new law is in line with the company's views. They also pointed out that they are legally permitted to capture new whales with the intentions of returning them into the wild.

"The bill does allow for SeaWorld to rescue and rehabilitate stranded orcas, with the goal of returning them to the wild, as is the case with all animals we rescue." the company said on its website. "And, if the federal government determines that the orca is not releasable, that animal could stay in SeaWorld’s care.

Where not to visit if you love animals

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1/9Where not to visit if you love animals

Where not to visit if you love animals

Monkey shows

Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Marine parks

Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Tiger shows

Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them “safe” for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Donkey rides

Sunning on the beach is great for humans – we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Swimming with dolphins

Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Canned hunting

Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Running of the Bulls

Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Horse-drawn carriages

City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Zoos

The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further.

EPA

SeaWorld’s attendance has plunged since the documentary Blackfish was released in 2013, which criticized the park’s treatment of its whales. The company’s shares have also dropped more than 62 per cent in the past three years and are down 37 per cent year-to-date.

In March, SeaWorld promised to abandon its breeding programs and entertainment performances to focus on educational endeavors. The park’s San Diego branch plans to introduce their new orca display by 2017, followed by their parks in San Antonio and Orlando.

"SeaWorld has been listening and we’re changing,” the company said in a statement. “Society is changing and we’re changing with it. SeaWorld is finding new ways to continue to deliver on our purpose to inspire all our guests to take action to protect wild animals and wild places.”