SeaWorld’s announcement that they would be ending their orca breeding program this year was met with overwhelmingly positive support.
Not to be callous, but in one day the stock jumped up in the biggest one-day gain since going public.
But PETA’s professional zealots jumped on the historic announcement to demand the last generation of orcas at SeaWorld be moved to sea pens. To them, sea pens are their imaginary city of gold, their El Dorado.
The Los Angeles Times covered the sea pen fantasy this week following SeaWorld’s announcement. The report addressed the costs associated with such facilities and the most glaring example of the dangers of sea pens – the story of the tragic death of the orca named Keiko made famous in the film Free Willy.
But the reality (r-e-a-l-i-t-y. Google it, PETA) of sea pens is that they are a death sentence and not an option for the orcas at SeaWorld.
We’ve covered the dangers of sea pens for a while, even exposing the smoking gun behind the real motivation PETA and other radical activists have for promoting the idea of sea pens.
Since the debut of the movie Blackfish, anyone involved with the film has been on the record promoting sea pens as the only alternative to captivity. Despite an ocean of evidence suggesting that these animals would suffer and potentially die from this, the sea pen debate has been all the rage in activist circles.
It is only now that we see what the activists actually plan for sea pens – a facility run by them as a non-profit. Really their own private SeaWorld. Selling tickets to the public for viewing and promoting the attractions.
Before advocating for SeaWorld and zoological parks, killer whale trainer Bridgette Pirtle-Davis was part of the production and promotion of Blackfish. “After the premier of the film, it strangely went from absolutely no discussion of sea pens, to everyone advocating sea pens, and when I disagreed with the sea pen plan, because of my concern for the health and safety of the animals, I was removed from promotional tour of Blackfish,” said Pirtle-Davis.
Activists rarely talk about the monumental cost of building these sea cages. They know the last time they experimented with this fantasy, the results were tragic. Their funding dried up, resulting in Keiko’s unnecessary death.
Mark Simmons, a veteran killer whale trainer and author of the book “Killing Keiko“, which detailed the animal activists failed attempt to release the Free Willy star, blasted the very idea of sea cages in our August 2015 report.
“The idea that whales long in the care of humans can survive an unforgiving wild is nothing short of premeditated animal abuse,” Simmons said.
Hear that? Animal. Abuse.
So the next time you hear PETA and other activists harping on sea pens, know that those plans are a death sentence for the orcas.
That’s why SeaWorld is acting in their orcas’ best interests and ignoring the activist foolishness.