It’s time for SeaWorld to face the music. Its business model is dead, its reputation is in the toilet, and its financial situation is a cautionary tale. Much to the company’s chagrin, PETA bought stock the day it became publicly available in order to propose our own shareholder resolutions, and we’ve got the perfect solution to SeaWorld’s troubled waters: In a resolution that we’re submitting today, we will ask shareholders to pass a measure that would ban captive-orca breeding, develop coastal sanctuaries where the animals would be retired, and replace the existing parks with human and high-tech entertainment.
We will point out that the public is more aware than ever that orcas suffer physically and psychologically in captivity, especially when they are kept in tiny concrete tanks. SeaWorld has been found to drug them and group them incompatibly, and they gnaw at the underwater steel bars until their teeth break. Coastal sanctuaries would provide animals with a dynamic, stimulating environment, and SeaWorld could attract audiences with state-of-the-art augmented or virtual reality marine-mammal experiences that would allow visitors to learn about and interact with wildlife in a safe, humane way.
In the past year, the California Coastal Commission ruled that SeaWorld could move forward with plans to build new orca tanks in San Diego only under the condition that it end its captive-breeding program there. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff also introduced the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement (ORCA) Act, which would ban the breeding of orcas held for exhibition and prohibit the capture and import or export of orcas for public display.
What You Can Do
The writing is on the (concrete tank) wall. Please join us in letting SeaWorld know that the only way it can save itself is by retiring the animals to coastal sanctuaries.
