Meet Steve. He’s one of the stars of Disneynature’s all-new feature film “Penguins” a touching story about overcoming the odds set against a beautiful but harsh environment. The story follows a plucky Adélie penguin, the afore mentioned Steve, who joins millions of fellow males in… Read More »Disneynature’s latest ‘Penguins’ opens today with an important mission
Reflecting a huge shift in its philosophy SeaWorld has announced three major changes to its Killer Whale programs at the parks. They will end the Orca breeding program, meaning the current generation of killer whales will be the last at SeaWorld. SeaWorld will shift from… Read More »SeaWorld announces the end of its Killer Whale breeding program
I’m a bit surprised, but not totally shocked, by SeaWorld’s decision not to appeal the court ruling enforcing OSHA’s finding that it was unsafe to have employees (aka trainers) in the water with Killer Whales (aka big animals with a remote risk of danger). I… Read More »SeaWorld won’t appeal OSHA ruling keeping trainers out of water
In a ceremony broadcast live to all three of its parks, SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. just announced that it plans to build new, first-of-its-kind killer whale environments at all three of its SeaWorld parks. It will also fund new programs to protect ocean health and killer whales in the wild. The new projects will build on SeaWorld’s legacy of providing state-of-the-art, innovative homes for its animals, and will offer park guests unique and inspiring killer whale encounters for generations to come. As part of its vision for the future, the company also pledged $10 million in matching funds for killer whale research and is embarking on a multi-million dollar partnership focused on ocean health, the leading concern for all killer whales and marine mammals.
“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, Chief Executive Officer and President of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. “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.”
Here’s a video of the announcement and an interview with SeaWorld Orlando park president Terry Prather:
Much more on this expansion including my thoughts on whether it will make a difference for SeaWorld, the animals, and guests below the jump:
In a move they telegraphed widely last week, SeaWorld has returned its trainers to the water with Killer Whales. SeaWorld says it is taking the re-acclimation process slowly, but having trainers interact with the killer whales in the water is an important part of their… Read More »SeaWorld Returns Trainers to Water with Killer Whales, but only Off-Stage
The OSHA case against SeaWorld Orlando in the death of killer whale trainer Dawn Brancheau reached a mixed verdict today. On the one hand the judge ruled SeaWorld’s violation was not willful, merely serious, and reduced the fine from $75,000 to $12,000. But the judge… Read More »Mixed Results in SeaWorld Orlando Killer Whale Trainer Death OSHA Case
As we reported earlier this week, PETA had filed a lawsuit accusing SeaWorld’s Orlando and San Diego parks of treating its killer whales as slaves. We felt the lawsuit was ridiculous on its face. SeaWorld officials called the lawsuit frivolous. Now a Federal Court has… Read More »Lawsuit Accusing SeaWorld of Enslaving Killer Whales Dismissed
SeaWorld’s newest Killer Whale show One Ocean debuted in Orlando last month and is opening in San Diego this weekend. It will reach San Antonio in June, but they have to be patient as it was just announced that they’ll be getting their own Aquatica in the future too.
I’ve got two quick videos to peak your interest this morning. First is a look beneath the waves at how SeaWorld produced the show:
Then follow below the jump for my video from the grand opening show of One Ocean