Is this the end of Seaworld?
Since the release of ‘Blackfish’, a documentary critical of the treatment of Orcas at SeaWorld many people have condemned, boycotted, and downright despised the theme park attraction.
Now, California legislatures want to make it illegal for theme parks to contain killer whales in the state. California Assemblyman and the chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Transportation for California’s 50th district, Richard Bloom, has introduced a bill that would require organizations to end the use of orcas in theme park attractions, and only permit them to keep killer whales captive for research, rescue, and rehabilitation purposes. The bill would also forbid the breeding in captivity, as well as the ban of importing and exporting of orcas. Overtime, the organizations would be required to free their orcas into the wild.
“There is no justification for the continued captive display of orcas for entertainment purposes,” the assemblyman said in a statement. “These beautiful creatures are much too large and far too intelligent to be confined in small, concrete tanks for their entire lives.”
But, what is ‘Blackfish’? The hit documentary, first appeared at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, then it aired on CNN and later was available for streaming on Netflix. It details the circumstances surrounding the deaths of several whale trainers at SeaWorld, and the alleged abuses and neglect with which theme parks treat their captive mammals.
Watch the trailer below:
