SeaWorld just announced that the company will phase out its circus-style orca shows at the San Diego location next year. While the move may sound like progress for the long-suffering orcas, what these animals—and every orca imprisoned by SeaWorld—really need are lives outside the prison-like tanks.
BREAKING: #SeaWorld’s new media spin: phasing out orca shows. They must end captivity, not just circus-like shows! pic.twitter.com/XCLhKz1RH3
— PETA (@peta) November 9, 2015
An end to SeaWorld’s tawdry circus-style shows is inevitable and necessary, but it’s captivity that denies these far-ranging orcas everything that is natural and important to them. This move is like no longer whipping lions in a circus act but keeping them locked inside cages for life or no longer beating dogs but never letting them out of crates. As U.S. Rep. Adam B. Schiff indicated when he introduced a federal orca-protection bill recently, no change to SeaWorld’s tanks will be sufficient to satisfy the needs of these animals.
I announced today I will be introducing the ORCA Act to phase out orca captivity nationwide https://t.co/pZmeg8hgsO pic.twitter.com/qmzDkAAYzm
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 6, 2015