SeaWorld: A Never-Ending Downward Spiral
- Samantha Stewart
- Apr 3, 2016
- 2 min read
In November, I wrote about the announcement made by SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby regarding the end of theatrical orca whale performances at their San Diego location. This small step was made by the corporation with hopes to regain the respect lost after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish. SeaWorld tried to compromise with the public but this move didn’t exactly work in their favor.
Animal rights activists viewed the announcement as nothing more than a PR stunt and questioned the motives behind Manby and the corporation as a whole. First of all, the theatrical orca whale performance “One Ocean” was only set to end at one out of three SeaWorld parks.
Manby also stated that the new presentation the company had in the works would showcase the animals in their “natural” environment, which he later was heavily criticized on considering there is no way to make SeaWorld’s giant tanks seem even somewhat of a natural environment for orca whales.
In more recent news, SeaWorld announced on March 17 via social media that they were going to be ending their orca-breeding program entirely.
See announcement here:
This shocking announcement resulted in a lot of mixed opinions.
Many were thrilled that SeaWorld is listening to the public and taking the necessary steps in order to get back in good graces. Within a few days of releasing the news, SeaWorld saw a stock increase by more than 20%.
However, there are still those who continue to hammer down on the corporation no matter what they do. Movements have been made by investors to replace board members due to SeaWorld’s slow response to Blackfish and employees and die-hard fans are let down saying that the company has surrendered to its enemies.
"The data showed, and trends showed, it was a SeaWorld without whales or it would probably be a world without SeaWorld."
-Joel Manby, SeaWorld CEO
Taking a step back and viewing the steady fall of SeaWorld since 2013 it’s easy to see that this is indeed a never-ending downhill spiral for the corporation. Right now the focus is on the whales but once that battle is won by animal rights activists they’ll move on to the next animal (dolphins, sea lions, etc.)
The SeaWorld vs. Blackfish case has been a long, slow battle that has created more SeaWorld enemies than fans and its only a matter of time that the company reaches the end of its rope.
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