SeaWorld fights to restore its image as shares sink in the wake of Blackfish

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

@RupertNeate

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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My film Blackfish plunged Seaworld into crisis – but it’s not only killer whales we must protect

Gabriela Cowperthwaite

The crisis at SeaWorld reflects people facing up to uncomfortable truths about animal welfare and what it means to be humane – and not before time

Thursday 20 August 2015 09.25 BSTLast modified on Thursday 20 August 201511.11 BST

When I started work on Blackfish, I could not possibly have imagined the effect it would have on SeaWorld. Let’s be honest. Not a lot of people see documentaries. And not a lot of people want to see a movie that sucker punches a beloved cultural icon. But it seems as though the movie has indeed changed how many view the park.

Over the past couple of years, SeaWorld’s visitor numbers have fallen, its stock has plummeted, lawsuits have confronted their business practices, legislation has challenged what goes on at Shamu Stadium, and reported profits were down 84% on the previous year.

People ask me whether this is a win. I can only say that it was inevitable, and that I hope it’s only the beginning. Today’s kids are increasingly becoming part of the “I can’t believe we used to do that” generation. They know that killer whales are not suitable for captivity.

Instead of acknowledging this, SeaWorld has decided to spend its way out of the crisis. With its glossy, protracted PR fight, it continues to claim it is battling an image problem. Yet I see no meaningful change. I guess this is what happens when a corporation operates essentially ungoverned for 45 years. But I know many of us still hold out hope that SeaWorld, in one final Hail Mary pass, will do something drastically progressive – like stopping their breeding programme. This would mean no more baby Shamus for SeaWorld. It would mean that the whales currently at SeaWorld would be the last it will ever have in captivity.

After this, SeaWorld could almost singlehandedly pioneer a sea sanctuary where it could retire the remaining whales. SeaWorld’s whales are unlikely to know how to hunt for their own food because they are given antibiotics and might die if they’re not in human care, so they can’t simply be tossed back into the open ocean. But a killer whale sanctuary would provide these animals with a massive, cordoned off, ocean cove where they could live out their lives in a healthier and more dignified way.

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