Documentary has made opposition to orca practices
‘the mainstream view’, says expert as company grapples with $10m blow to
profits
Rupert
Neate in San Diego
Friday 6 November 2015 20.42 GMTLast
modified on Friday 6 November 201522.01 GMT
Sina Schmocker asks for a minute to think before
responding. “I have really enjoyed seeing the whales and the other animals,”
she said. “But I am really shocked by how little space they have.
“I knew it would be quite small, but I wasn’t
expecting it to be quite this small,” Schmocker said of the 5.8m gallons (the
equivalent of just under nine Olympic swimming pools) of tanks behind her that
are home to the 11 orca whales of SeaWorld San Diego.
“I told my boyfriend I really wanted to come here
and see them because we couldn’t see whales up close like this at home,” said
Schmocker, 30, who is on vacation in California from her home in Bern,
Switzerland. “But now I feel bad because I have given them $178 (£118) more
towards keeping animals like this [day tickets to SeaWorld are $89 each]. And
they make them perform tricks. I don’t think that should be allowed in 2015.”
Schmocker isn’t alone in feeling uncomfortable
about SeaWorld’s treatment of orca whales, dolphins, sea lions and other
animals at its parks in San Diego; San Antonio, Texas; and Orlando, Florida.
Growing public concern over the welfare of the whales has plunged SeaWorld, a
corporate giant worth more than $1.65bn, into crisis.
Customers are deserting its attractions –
particularly at this park in San Diego, where attendance fell 17% last year to
3.8 million, according to city authorities – and the company warned profits
will evaporate. SeaWorld refused to specify by exactly how much attendance was
currently falling at the San Diego park, but said that without the drop-off in California and
Texas, overall attendance for the company, which also operates the Busch
Gardens chain, would have been up on the previous year. The overall number came
in 0.4% down, when analysts had expected 1.5% growth.
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