Visitors have been turning their backs on the theme park since Blackfish raised awareness of the plight of its captive orcas.
Mike Blake / Reuters
SeaWorld will get rid of its famous killer whale show in San Diego after 2016, amid ongoing criticism of its treatment of captive orcas and attempts by legislators to prevent the company from breeding new whales or capturing additional ones.
The company said today it will "launch an all-new orca experience" in 2017 that will be "focused more on the natural setting, natural environment and also the natural behaviors of the whale" with a "strong conservation message." Next year will represent the last year of SeaWorld's "theatrical killer whale experience" at its original San Diego park, the company said in its presentation today.
SeaWorld's announcement, reported earlier by the San Diego Union-Tribune, comes a month after California's Coastal Commission approved the company's massive new killer whale facility as part of its "Blue World Project" – but banned the breeding of any captive orcas.
SeaWorld / Via seaworldparks.com
The company said today it will divert some of Blue World's $100 million for expanding killer whale tanks to alternative attractions.
SeaWorld, which closed at $33.52 a share in its first day of trading after it went public in April 2013, has fallen to $17.91 by the close of trading on Monday, valuing the company at $1.64 billion.
SeaWorld has struggled with attendance and profitability since the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which focused on the parks' treatment of orcas after one of its whales killed a veteran trainer in 2010. The damning film has since spurred an outcry from animal activists and regular viewers, as well as legislation targeting the sustainability of the live orca shows.
The end of SeaWorld's theater show is specific to the San Diego park, as visitors there are looking for "experiences that are more natural," and less theatrical, executives said today, noting it is "not universal" across its properties.
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