New bill threatens SeaWorld's killer whale show business

A California measure has been proposed that would seek to end the animal welfare practices at SeaWorld that would also end the company's lucrative killer whale attraction, the Guardian said. On Tuesday, the state assembly will be hosting its first committee hearing about the AB2140 proposal, which was authored by Richard Bloom. Should the bill gets passed, SeaWorld will be forced to move its 10 killer whales from their current dwellings to a more larger sea pen. Moreover, it will also ban SeaWorld and other similar businesses to bred killer whales on site, and will no longer able to import and export animals. The UK newspaper said there are indications that similar bills will be introduced to states where SeaWorld has parks.

Marine mammal scientist Naomi Rose, whose non-profit group the Animal Welfare Institute is the bill's sponsor, said about the condition of the killer whales at SeaWorld parks, "They are too large, too intelligent, too socially complex and too far-ranging to be adequately cared for in captivity."

The Guardian said SeaWorld had long since been fighting the negative perception about its killer whales, and executives have claimed that the award-winning 2013 documentary "Blackfish" was a distorted propaganda material against the company. Officials of the recreational parks operator said that their killer whales have quality lives in their facilities, and that their captive animals have aided researchers in their studies about the conservation of orcas in the wild.

President John Reilly of SeaWorld San Diego Park said about the documentary, "That argument is not based on credible peer-reviewed science. It's based on emotion and a propaganda film."

On the other hand, the Guardian said SeaWorld declined to comment on what the company would do to adapt should the bill will be passed into law. SeaWorld, which is a publicly-traded company, is expecting record revenues in 2013 despite the purportedly damaging portrayal of the park in "Blackfish."

Tags

SeaWorld, Blackfish, AB2140 proposal, Animal Welfare Institute

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