A new, federal legislation that will phase out killer whale captivity is now being carried out by a California congressman, announcing on Friday, that can lead to the total ban of breeding, importing and exporting the whales for public display.
According to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, he believes that the Orca Responsibility and Care Advancement Act will ensure that orcas that are kept in aquatic parks namely SeaWorld will be the last ones to die in captivity which would mean that no other whales will replace them when they die.
The bill will also involve a ban in capturing whales from the wild however, no orca whales has been captured in United States waters since 1976 where Schiff adds that captive killer whales are now bred. Schiff also believes that keeping the animals in captivity is a cruel act.
Schiff said during a press conference that there is solid evidence that there are serious psychological and physical harm that are inflicted upon these magnificent animals that far outweighs the benefits of putting them on display. In response, SeaWorld believes that their whales are still thriving in the parks and the parks foster better understanding of the animals.
According to Jill Kermes from SeaWorld Entertainment, these efforts to phase out whales under human care may strike an emotional chord but SeaWorld along with science based organizations are actually part of the solution and not the problem.
This proposal is praised by many animal welfare activists along with the director of animal law in PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Foundation, Jared Goodman, who says that this bill reflects that the public is in favor of this archaic and cruel practice of keeping killer whales in captivity.
Just last month, the California Coastal Commission approved a US $100 million to expand the orca tanks in SeaWorld, San Diego yet the conditions include the ban of captive breeding and prohibiting sale, trade and transfer of the orcas. In response, SeaWorld says that they will challenge this ruling in court.
In total, the attendance at SeaWorld's 11 parks went down by 0.4 percent to 8.371 million according to SeaWorld.