ICYMI: Sea World’s Blue World Project

Sea World has announced the Blue World Project, which plans to improve the Killer Whale‘s habitat across all their parks and provide $10 million in funding for research and conservation projects. This came a week after Southwest Airlines announced that it would end its partnership with Sea World after more than 15 years.

Habitat improvements will include:

• 50ft in depth (5 million more gallons of water);
• 1.5 acres of surface area;
• Faster water current;
• Viewing galleries will be nearly four stories high;
• and much more.

The new project is scheduled to open in San Diego in 2018 with the Orlando, FL and San Antonio, TX parks following shortly thereafter.

Sea World estimates that sales will fall by 7% this year while their stocks have dropped 45% since Sea World went public in 2012.

The famous entertainment park has been under fire since the airing of the documentary Blackfish which depicts the horrible conditions that the Killer Whales live in while at the parks and how they are captured in the wild. The documentary is available on Netflix online streaming.

Visit the Blue World Project website

Opinion:
I watched Blackfish on Saturday night and I was quite shocked at the revelations made by the documentary. Growing up I always thought that the animals at Sea World were rescued from the wild and are kept at the parks because they are unable to survive in the wild. However, the documentary paints a much different picture than my previous perspective. I applaud Sea World for taking steps to correct the issue but until they have proven that they have changed their ways I don’t plan on giving them any money.

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