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When SeaWorld’s stock price took a plunge last week, the ratings agency Standard & Poors blamed it on lower attendance due to “the company’s use of orca whales for entertainment purposes.” In response, SeaWorld announced that it is enlarging the orca tanks at three of its parks.

With the orca show being SeaWorld’s main attraction, I understand why the heartless souls who run the company would attempt install bigger tanks to regain the public trust and salvage the show, but could this possibly work, given public pressure to release the whales into ocean sanctuaries? Could bigger tanks really enable Sea World to continue holding whales captive? It’s too soon to say, but the activist community is doubling down – with PETA releasing this new 30 second video about orca activity. Even CNN is joining the fight by re-airing Blackfish, which is what triggered the international movement against Sea World in the first place. Thank you, CNN.

Animal rights activists are saying “Thanks, but no tanks” in response to SeaWorld’s announcement that they are expanding the size of their killer whale enclosures. While refusing to admit that the larger tanks are a concession to animal rights activists, SeaWorld said the new habitats will be “not just larger but more dynamic, and with a lot more of the kind of mental and physical stimulation that we know is so important for overall health and well-being.”

Rendition of expanded tank

Why would SeaWorld invest millions of dollars in larger tanks? Based on the plummeting stock price, the public has already decided, thanks in large part to Blackfish, that the killer whales should not be held captive. The whale enclosures will eventually go either because people Boycott SeaWorld or because laws will be passed to outlaw them. To join the fight to free the imprisoned orcas, please see the Blackfish Take Action page.

With shares of SeaWorld crashing as a result of the documentary film Blackfish, will the movie’s producer, CNN, be charged with terrorism? Under the 2006 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), anyone who causes the loss of property or profits to institutions that use or sell animals can be prosecuted and face up to 20 years in prison, depending on the amount of profit loss.  This overly broad law has not only compromised our constitutional right to free speech and free assembly but has also changed the public discourse, giving people permission to describe animal advocates as “terrorists.”  The irony is that the real terrorists here are the companies (or institutions) that the activists are targeting.  These companies employ terror when they kidnap, deprive, mutilate, confine, neglect, torture, slaughter and skin animals alive in factory and fur farms, behind circus tents, in laboratories and, of course, in the tanks of Sea World. Of course, the federal government would never file terrorism charges against CNN because it would be a PR disaster, but I wish they would because a spotlight on AETA would force Congress to change or eliminate the law. In early August, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review AETA, claiming it violates the First Amendment.

Photo: NBC News

As part of Sea World’s efforts to restore its reputation after the documentary Blackfish tarnished it, the company hired 15-year old Bindi Irwin, a self-declared conservationist, to be a paid spokesperson. Bob Irwin, Bindi’s grandfather who runs a conservation foundation, used the news of Bindi’s new job to speak out against whales in captivity.

Bindi Irwin promotes Sea World on Good Morning America

Steve Irwin, who made a career out of provoking wild animals for his TV shows, was killed by an angry sting ray in 2006. Will karma pay an unexpected visit to his daughter too? The Irwin moguls appear to be animal abusers disguised as conservationists. Sign the petition asking Bindi to step down as a “Sea World Ambassador.”

After watching Blackfish, the documentary film about captive orcas at Sea World, Virgin Airlines CEO Richard Branson instructed his tour company Virgin Holidays to refrain from booking travel “with any organization that won’t guarantee that they won’t display dolphins and whales that are taken from the wild,” according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The capture of Lolita, who is now at the Miami Seaquarim

The impact of Blackfish can’t be overstated: musicians are canceling their Sea World performances; protests are on the rise and ticket sales are declining. The whole world is watching. But we can’t be complacent because Sea World is a multi-billion dollar company that will stop at nothing to protect their biggest attraction: the killer whale shows. To be a voice for the orcas, please visit the Take Action on the Blackfish website.