SeaWorld Moves Away From its Controversial Orca Shows
September 27 2016 - 9:40AM
Dow Jones News
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. unveiled plans for cause-based
entertainment and a new virtual-reality ride as it seeks to move on
from its highly scrutinized theatrical shows featuring killer
whales.
In March the company said it would stop breeding the killer
whales, also known as orcas, and convert its theatrical shows
featuring them to educational experiences due to heavy public
criticism that pressured attendance.
The amusement park company says it wants to move away from
purely thrill-based entertainment and into providing meaningful
experiences that inspire guests to prevent animal and ecological
harm.
Instead of featuring orcas doing flips and other tricks set to
upbeat music, the company says its San Diego location will
introduce educational orca encounters that focus on enrichment,
exercise and the overall health of orcas by showing how they eat,
hunt, navigate and communicate.
"In developing new experiences, we want guests to have fun but
also be inspired, and our parks are uniquely suited to create
meaningful and fun vacations," Chief Executive Joel Manby said.
This past summer, SeaWorld was already running a basic trial
version of its educational shows alongside the long-standing
theatrical ones, but the park is now ready for their full
release.
Mr. Manby has also said he wants to better cross-promote the
company's animal rescue efforts, which saves ocean animals and
nourishes them back to health at its locations in Florida, Texas
and California. It already has a television show featuring the
rescues, and this summer it's opening a new themed roller coaster
in San Antonio focused on experiencing what it's like to "spring
into action" and help distressed animals.
The company is also opening the first virtual reality roller
coaster in Florida, adding VR headsets to its Kraken coaster in
Orlando. Riders are immersed in a digital landscape filled with
extinct and legendary ocean animals as they go through the water,
plunge and twist in sync with a coaster's motion. This year Six
Flags Entertainment Corp. has also been introducing VR headsets to
its North American parks.
The company is also expanding its Dolphin Nursery in Orlando and
a new 3-acre area focused on exploration and adventure to its San
Diego location.
In all, the company is investing about $175 million in capital
spending, in what it says is one of its largest new attraction
years in its history. SeaWorld had initially planned a $300 million
expansion of its Orca exhibit but largely scrapped those plans when
it decided to stop breeding them.
While SeaWorld has ended its breeding program, it still will
have killer whales for decades to come. It has nearly 30 killer
whales across its locations and said they typically live up to 50
years. Some animal rights organizations have called for SeaWorld to
release its remaining stock or house them in ocean pens.
Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 27, 2016 09:25 ET (13:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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