For 50 years, SeaWorld has influenced how the world views marine life through state-of-the-art marine animal facilities, in-depth educational programs, and one-of-a-kind interactive experiences.
Now, it looks like they are changing the game once again.
SeaWorld representatives appeared on The Today Show this morning to make one of the biggest announcements in the company’s history: The Blue World Project.
The Blue World Project will bring brand new, completely redesigned killer whale environments, more amazing research than ever before, a variety of new educational programs, and partnerships devoted to making the ocean a better place. This project has a clear goal: to facilitate understanding of killer whales, to educate, and to inspire conservation efforts for whales in the wild on a global scale.
Construction will begin on the first of these killer whale homes in 2015 at SeaWorld San Diego, and we will warn you, the world has never seen a whale habitat like this one. The environments will hold 10 million gallons of water, which is almost double that of the existing killer whale home. Whales will be able to dive 50 feet into the habitat’s depths and swim across a surface area of almost 1.5 acres (and 350 feet long) in an environment that will mimic the ocean.
SeaWorld has also designed a “fast water current” to really bring the ocean to the land. This current will allow whales to swim against moving water, helping them increase speed and diversify their movements.
And check this out!
With views more than 40 feet tall, guests will be able to watch killer whales diving, swimming and playing at depths actually found in the world’s oceans. The environment is also designed to allow guests to catch a birds-eye view from above or explore the beauty of killer whales as if sitting on the ocean’s sandy floor.
How cool is that?
The Blue World Project will truly be a thing of wonder.
Perhaps most importantly. SeaWorld has committed $10 million in matching funds to stop threats to killer whales in the wild and $1.5 million toward a new partnership aimed at protecting our oceans. The main benefactors will be the plighted Southern Resident Orcas.
SeaWorld’s reputation for world-class animal care will outdo itself. Animal health professionals and independent scientists will have beyond unique opportunities to observe and interact with the killer whales both at SeaWorld and in the wild.
And if that wasn’t enough, SeaWorld is bringing on some of the best experts in their fields to form an independent advisory panel to encourage new perspectives and ideas for the environments. These experts will also advise on research and educational opportunities not just at SeaWorld parks, but in the wild as well.
We know you’re thinking it, so we’ll just say it: this is huge.
The San Diego environment is expected to open to the public in 2018 with new killer whale habitats to follow at SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Antonio.
Learn more here.