Virgin Holidays sells trips to SeaWorld. Ask Richard Branson to stop supporting whale cruelty.
- Most captive orcas die in their teens and twenties. In the wild females can live into their 80s.
- Only 6 cents in every $100 of SeaWorld’s annual revenue goes towards conservation.
- An orca at SeaWorld would have to swim around the main pool 1,400 times to match the distance travelled daily in the wild.
Keeping whales in tanks is NOT conservation. It’s NOT education. It IS cruel. Richard Branson claims to care about whale conservation - Please tell him to stop Virgin selling trips to places like SeaWorld.
Sir Richard has already shown that he is aware of our campaign and has called for an end to the live capture of whales and dolphins but we need to persuade him that there is more he can do.
Please sign our petition and send him the message that by selling trips to SeaWorld he is supporting a devastatingly cruel industry and he can do better. Dear Richard Branson,
As you are aware, every year Virgin Holidays offers thousands of holidaymakers the opportunity to purchase tickets to see performing orcas at SeaWorld parks as part of their holiday package.
The highly acclaimed, BAFTA nominated film,
Blackfish and David Kirby's book,
Death At SeaWorld, have both lifted the curtain to expose a disturbing industry that raises serious questions about the health, safety and welfare of both the orcas and the SeaWorld staff who work with them.
In 2010, Dawn Brancheau, one of SeaWorld's most experienced trainers, was tragically killed by one of the orcas held at SeaWorld. SeaWorld is currently challenging a federal government lawsuit to get their trainers back in the water with the orcas.
In recent years you have become a passionate advocate for marine conservation through your association with campaign groups such as Ocean Elders —
'a collective of leaders working with partners to protect, value, and celebrate the ocean and its wildlife'. SeaWorld has a vast collection of marine mammals held captive, including five orcas who were snatched from their families in the wild and consigned to life in a concrete tank.
Most of the orcas held by SeaWorld die in their teens, few survive into their twenties. Worldwide, only 20 of the 145 orcas captured from the wild are alive today — and eight of those have been recently captured in Russia. To date there have been 51 Shamus at SeaWorld — corporate Shamu never dies, real Shamu does, frequently. Research has shown that just 6 cents in every $100 of SeaWorld's annual revenues goes towards conservation efforts. There is no educational benefit in seeing orcas performing in circus style shows which have no value in informing the public about wild orcas and their habitats.
It is unacceptable to keep highly mobile, sentient, intelligent orcas in tanks for 'entertainment', and, as founder of the Virgin brand, we respectfully ask you to use your influence to encourage Virgin Holidays to end its association with SeaWorld and all marine parks and aquaria holding whales and dolphins in captivity.
[Your comments here]
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
