Seaworld San Diego to Stop Orca Shows by 2017

SeaWorld San Diego announced that by 2017, park visitors will see orcas in more natural scenarios as opposed to the current circus-like exhibitions of the theme park's highly controversial sea mammal population.

Profits of the park plummeted after the release of "Blackfish", a 2013 full-length documentary about killer whales in captivity and how the situation resulted in the death of several trainers, MSNBC cited.

The move is not across the board, SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby clarified. SeaWorld's other parks in Orlando and San Antonio will carry on as usual with their orca attraction, San Diego Union Tribune reported.

However, International Theme Park Services, Inc. president Dennis Speigel stated that it will most likely carry over to the other parks.  Speigel believes that SeaWorld would listen to guests while reacting reasonably to adversaries.

A $100 million plan to expand orca tanks was postponed. The state and federal government stipulated that approval of the project will be given if SeaWorld agreed to stop captive breeding of orcas.

Details on what will replace the decades-old Shamu show are still not clear. SeaWorld executives only say that the new attraction will focus on orcas in their natural state and environment. A shift to using the animals as a means of raising conservation awareness from being merely a form of entertainment is said to be a key feature in the park's revamped concept, The Guardian reported.

A more specific plan geared towards rebranding the park is the possible addition of hotels. SeaWorld is exploring the possibility of a turning their properties into a theme resort with the goal of attracting overnight guests.

Manby also explained that retiring the attraction is not a pacifist move to keep critics off their case. Rather it is a response to what customers want. "The theatrical production of the show in that market is what they wanted to see less of," he said. "They want the orca experience to be activities the whales do in the wild."

Despite this significant step, activists insist that the whole thing is a ploy. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) representatives say that the circus show's retirement was inescapable. The organization added that release from captivity is what SeaWorld must really do, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.  

The general reaction from the public is by and large of relief, but emphasis is still given to the suffering of the animals while in captivity. Some guests did express dismay over the removal of the orca shows in San Diego, indicating that the widely-criticized attraction still has a following.