Sea World has submitted an application to the California Coastal Commission to build new tanks.
SeaWorld claims that its Blue World Project will help orcas, but we know that people like you won't be fooled by this desperate, drop-in-the-bucket move. The additional space and a "fast water current" are simply acknowledgments that orcas need more than just still water, but they'll do little to provide the animals with a natural life. The fact is that in the wild, orcas dive as deep as 1,000 feet, and the tank expansion SeaWorld has announced would have a depth of only 50 feet. Because the tank will be only 350 feet long, orcas would have to swim more than 1,500 lengths back and forth per day to approximate the 100 miles a day they may naturally travel in the ocean. This project will not provide anything close to truly "dynamic opportunities" or to "support the whales' broad range of behaviors and provide choices that can challenge the whales both physically and mentally," as SeaWorld claims. This project is window-dressing intended to mislead the public into thinking that the orcas are no longer suffering.
If SeaWorld really wants to improve its image, it should spend its money on projects such as innovative animal-free exhibits that will truly wow people and coastal sanctuaries where marine mammals can feel and experience the ocean, hear their families, and perhaps one day be reunited with them. It shouldn't build a slightly bigger orca prison.
Tell the California Coastal Commission to vote AGAINST SeaWorld's Blue World Project.
