(PHOTO CREDIT: MIKE BLAKE, REUTERS)
2020 marking a new decade for Seaworld
SeaWorld Orlando is killing its centerpiece killer-whale show beginning 2020. The final day for “One Ocean,” which debuted at the park in April 2011, will be Dec. 31, or New Year’s Eve. The theme park will replace its “One Ocean” show with “Orca Encounter,” a new show about killer whales’ behavior and the importance of conservation.
Dr. Chris Dold, SeaWorld Chief Zoological Officer, said that the new show will teach guests about the “role in the ocean ecosystem, behaviors the animals exhibit in the wild, the importance of conservation to their habitat. “Orca Encounter” will also highlight SeaWorld’s animal welfare practices, which have come under fire multiple times in the past.
The new show will also be the first that does not include trainers in the water with the whales. SeaWorld Orlando began making changes after the 2010 death of SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was pulled in the water and drowned by Tilikum, the largest orca at the theme park.
SeaWorld trainers maintain that they have not entered a pool to perform a show with an orca whale. In 2013, the documentary “Blackfish” condemned SeaWorld policies, and animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals pushed for the company to relocate its animals to coastal sanctuaries.
Currently, SeaWorld has five orcas left in Orlando. The company stopped orca breeding in 2016.
By: Maytinee Kramer
