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SanDiegoUnionTribune.com: SeaWorld, in a move to rebuild its brand and combat declining attendance, will phase out its traditional Shamu show in San Diego and replace it with one that is less about tricks and more about orcas' natural behaviors in the wild.
11 comments:
Annie Scheuermann
said...
The title of this article immediately caught my eye. I saw the Sea World show of the Killer Whales when I was younger, probably around 6 years old, and I still remember it now. At first I was sad to see that they are no longer doing the performance with the very popular whales. However, the fact that I saw the show 12 years ago and it is still the same one today is a very long run for any kind of performance, much less with one as whales as the stars. The new idea, which is not really stated in this article or published to the public yet sounds even worse. I hope that it is because the idea is still in the works, but just the idea of a whale in its natural habitat is very interesting, but when compared to a performance where whales do amazing tricks, just sound boring.
Although this is a good step in favor of less animal rights abuse from SeaWorld, I don’t think this is actually a victory for animal rights activists. I think that SeaWorld itself should be shut down because everyone knows that they are inhumane to their animals. Lying to little children that dorsal fins are naturally bent is not okay. The bending of a dorsal fin is a sign of extreme stress and a result of captivity. If you don’t understand why these tanks aren’t big enough for the whales, let me put it in perspective. Say you were put in a cage that only gave you enough room to turn your body around but not stretch in any way shape or form. That is how big the tanks are for the whales. For a whale that swims hundreds of miles a day, these tanks are disgustingly small. Making a new tank that is twice as big does not solve the issue! It just makes the orcas suffer more.
This frustrates me to another level. The company is repeatedly acting so outrageously two-facedly and is only responding to the holes in their pockets instead of actually committing to long term change. They're so worried about saving their asses at this point that they aren't in touch enough with their possible visitors to know that people want sea sanctuaries-they want complete overhauls. They don't want whales on display. I recognize the "good" that Seaworld does in terms of saving and taking care of injured animals in the wild- I get it. But using that as an excuse to abuse some animals just doesn't fly. For me to ever go back to Seaworld I would need whales, dolphins, porpoises, and any other large marine mammals not their for strictly rehabilitation purposes removed from the park in their entirety. It doesn't seem that Seaworld is ready to accept the fact that modern consumers may have this level of extreme commitment.
Oh Seaworld, why. They make it sound like it’s so good that they are getting rid of the whale show, but they are still keeping the wales in a similarly sized tank and not actually letting them roam like they would in the wild, like they are trying to advertise. They seriously say they are going to make a show that is less about the tricks and more about how they are in the wild while keeping the whales in a cage. That is not going to help any of the whale’s stress problems or malnourishment or any of the other neglect they have to deal with while being caged. Their fins are not supposed to bend like they are in the picture and that doesn't happen because they are doing tricks, they get it because of stress of being in a cage. This is not going to get people to come back to Seaworld. They need to release all the animals that aren't there strictly for medical rehabilitation and then they might be getting close to being okay.
An interesting note on this article: the title on the blog is "SeaWorld intends to replace Shamu show with a new orca experience in 2017", while the title of the actual article is "SeaWorld to end theatrical killer whale show". The sensationalist viewpoint here taken by the authors fuels the rhetoric for the article. I've never personally been to SeaWorld, but I have seen whale shows, and while animal cruelty is certainly a tragedy, the whole killer whale dilemma didn't seem to start in earnest until Blackfish, a documentary about whale shows, hit Netflix, and the armchair social justice warriors took up the cause of the whales because they had seen it in a movie. The article contains a quote from the new CEO of Seaworld in which he claims that the change in shows from a theatrical setting to a naturalistic setting is one that is NOT in response to critics, when clearly the opposite is the case, so why would they not be honest about it? Just for the sake of claiming they don't negotiate with terrorists, when they clearly are? A poll on the page states that a whopping 39% are NOT in favor of the change in the show, displaying that the anger against Seaworld isn't as widespread as we may believe, which is solely based on the fact that the minority that do take issue with the whale shows are significantly more vocal than those who saw no issue.
Here's the thing. Zoos are not a humane practice and keeping animals of this size even in tanks as big as the ones they have at SeaWorld is a cruel practice. Yes, this is a step in the right direction but ultimately it is not the end of the line. Realistically, these whales can't be rereleased back in to the wild; they're too accustomed to life in captivity and most of the animals were born here. So, I see where SeaWorld is coming from and yes this is an improvement with regards of the overall quality in programming. However, there needs to be a movement that prohibits new species from being captured and kept in tanks. It's important to realize that SeaWorld, while it is one of the biggest offenders, is not the only offender in these practices. What people don't realize is that they cannot release these animals back into the ocean. It breaks my heart to say this, but these animals are going to die in captivity. Change is not going to happen overnight. As long as there are people fighting for the well being of these creatures, SeaWorld and others like it will continue to move in the right direction.
Changing the name of their popular show is an interesting step in the process of making right the wrongs they have made. to most people they will see " oh orca, its not shamoo so it must be nice to the animals" which is not the case from what i can see. Although I've heard mixed opinions on what went wrong at Seaworld, the main thing is that someone was not doing their job and decided to cut costs therefore hurting the animals. It seems like the show is in the same type of venue, and same conditions they have just taken out the tricks. In my opinion it should have been the other way around if not both. The first thing they should have done was brought the show space to regulation as a zoo environment and not a stage. The animals need to be taken care of first off then you can start to worry about the guest experience, there will be no experience in the first place if the guests see that the animal is in distress. after the animals are ok and healthy then they could add the tricks back in. Im sure it is the money that is keeping them from doing the right thing but to make more money they need to spend money to make the changes, you cant half do something to recover from the bad PR they have gotten for so long.
One of the most important things to note about this article is that they said that in order to redesign the orca show they're crapping a plan to double the size of their enclosures, which is really disturbing. It seems like to me that they're trying to fix the wrong issue. The reason that the majority people aren't going to Sea World anymore is because they're angry about how the orcas are housed, not because they're just bored of the traditional show. Even if they try and make the show seem more natural people will still be just as angry. If Sea World is really concerned with appealing to their customers they should be putting more effort toward the care of their animals. Obviously they'll never release the orcas, but they need to at least give them a little more space. Their reputation has been so tarnished at this point that without some serious change in this area they might not be around for much longer.
It is really great seeing sea world making some changes. They have been under harsh attack for years because of their mistreatment of animals and I am sure a lot of people are really excited that they are making their experience for the whales much more natural. I am not sure how entertaining this will be but it should make people happy. But I am sure not too many people will come around to this idea. The whales are still in captivity and I am sure those strongly against sea world will not waiver in their views. I do not blame them. I do not know even close to the whole story, but from what I have gleaned I can tell that these orcas in captivity do not do super well. They are not made for small tanks and although there are plans to expand the tanks, I do not think that will do much, but on the other hand it would be a big improvement. Now all of this is conjecture and I truly know nothing about this situation but it sounds like Sea World is trying, but trying is sadly not always good enough.
The backlash on SeaWorld and the decline of audience’s is an outcome anyone could have predicted. We as a society are trying to more forward to a more accepting society between human, so it only makes sense that we would also push for the equal and fair treatment of animals. Unfortunately I don’t foresee the change in creating a more natural environment and doubling the tank size of the orcas being enough to bring audiences back. We are a culture that demands more from our spectacles than we once did and in creating a more human environment I see it as taking a step in the audience’s craving of entertainment and will only lead to more of a decline in attendance. In reality the orca is still in captivity in a tank. Changing the size of the tank and omitting the circus trick doesn’t take away from the fact that they are still in captivity. Besides the fact that they claim to be helping rescued animals, they are soon going to become nothing more than a high end aquarium with a TV show.
I remember going to Sea World when I was a kid, and one of my favorite things to do was watch the Shamu show. Of course as a kid, I was never aware as to the situation of various animals, and I believe that marine life has perhaps a little more difficult time than those animals of the land. I still haven’t seen the documentary Blackfish, but I still have the notion that the shows are great to watch. Growing up and having a few more years on me, has allowed me to have a better understanding for the various types of care given to animals. It will be interesting to see the type of show that they come up with to help turn the public image from a negative to a positive. By expanding the tanks, and creating a more natural environment should be able to dramatically improve the situation of most of the orcas. You are almost turning the exhibit into the zoo. Then again Sea World is a much more glorified zoo. With all of the antics and tricks, they have been fun to watch, just now though everyone is getting uptight about how animals are being taken care of.
11 comments:
The title of this article immediately caught my eye. I saw the Sea World show of the Killer Whales when I was younger, probably around 6 years old, and I still remember it now. At first I was sad to see that they are no longer doing the performance with the very popular whales. However, the fact that I saw the show 12 years ago and it is still the same one today is a very long run for any kind of performance, much less with one as whales as the stars. The new idea, which is not really stated in this article or published to the public yet sounds even worse. I hope that it is because the idea is still in the works, but just the idea of a whale in its natural habitat is very interesting, but when compared to a performance where whales do amazing tricks, just sound boring.
Although this is a good step in favor of less animal rights abuse from SeaWorld, I don’t think this is actually a victory for animal rights activists. I think that SeaWorld itself should be shut down because everyone knows that they are inhumane to their animals. Lying to little children that dorsal fins are naturally bent is not okay. The bending of a dorsal fin is a sign of extreme stress and a result of captivity. If you don’t understand why these tanks aren’t big enough for the whales, let me put it in perspective. Say you were put in a cage that only gave you enough room to turn your body around but not stretch in any way shape or form. That is how big the tanks are for the whales. For a whale that swims hundreds of miles a day, these tanks are disgustingly small. Making a new tank that is twice as big does not solve the issue! It just makes the orcas suffer more.
This frustrates me to another level. The company is repeatedly acting so outrageously two-facedly and is only responding to the holes in their pockets instead of actually committing to long term change. They're so worried about saving their asses at this point that they aren't in touch enough with their possible visitors to know that people want sea sanctuaries-they want complete overhauls. They don't want whales on display. I recognize the "good" that Seaworld does in terms of saving and taking care of injured animals in the wild- I get it. But using that as an excuse to abuse some animals just doesn't fly. For me to ever go back to Seaworld I would need whales, dolphins, porpoises, and any other large marine mammals not their for strictly rehabilitation purposes removed from the park in their entirety. It doesn't seem that Seaworld is ready to accept the fact that modern consumers may have this level of extreme commitment.
Oh Seaworld, why. They make it sound like it’s so good that they are getting rid of the whale show, but they are still keeping the wales in a similarly sized tank and not actually letting them roam like they would in the wild, like they are trying to advertise. They seriously say they are going to make a show that is less about the tricks and more about how they are in the wild while keeping the whales in a cage. That is not going to help any of the whale’s stress problems or malnourishment or any of the other neglect they have to deal with while being caged. Their fins are not supposed to bend like they are in the picture and that doesn't happen because they are doing tricks, they get it because of stress of being in a cage. This is not going to get people to come back to Seaworld. They need to release all the animals that aren't there strictly for medical rehabilitation and then they might be getting close to being okay.
An interesting note on this article: the title on the blog is "SeaWorld intends to replace Shamu show with a new orca experience in 2017", while the title of the actual article is "SeaWorld to end theatrical killer whale show". The sensationalist viewpoint here taken by the authors fuels the rhetoric for the article. I've never personally been to SeaWorld, but I have seen whale shows, and while animal cruelty is certainly a tragedy, the whole killer whale dilemma didn't seem to start in earnest until Blackfish, a documentary about whale shows, hit Netflix, and the armchair social justice warriors took up the cause of the whales because they had seen it in a movie. The article contains a quote from the new CEO of Seaworld in which he claims that the change in shows from a theatrical setting to a naturalistic setting is one that is NOT in response to critics, when clearly the opposite is the case, so why would they not be honest about it? Just for the sake of claiming they don't negotiate with terrorists, when they clearly are? A poll on the page states that a whopping 39% are NOT in favor of the change in the show, displaying that the anger against Seaworld isn't as widespread as we may believe, which is solely based on the fact that the minority that do take issue with the whale shows are significantly more vocal than those who saw no issue.
Here's the thing. Zoos are not a humane practice and keeping animals of this size even in tanks as big as the ones they have at SeaWorld is a cruel practice. Yes, this is a step in the right direction but ultimately it is not the end of the line. Realistically, these whales can't be rereleased back in to the wild; they're too accustomed to life in captivity and most of the animals were born here. So, I see where SeaWorld is coming from and yes this is an improvement with regards of the overall quality in programming. However, there needs to be a movement that prohibits new species from being captured and kept in tanks. It's important to realize that SeaWorld, while it is one of the biggest offenders, is not the only offender in these practices. What people don't realize is that they cannot release these animals back into the ocean. It breaks my heart to say this, but these animals are going to die in captivity. Change is not going to happen overnight. As long as there are people fighting for the well being of these creatures, SeaWorld and others like it will continue to move in the right direction.
Changing the name of their popular show is an interesting step in the process of making right the wrongs they have made. to most people they will see " oh orca, its not shamoo so it must be nice to the animals" which is not the case from what i can see. Although I've heard mixed opinions on what went wrong at Seaworld, the main thing is that someone was not doing their job and decided to cut costs therefore hurting the animals. It seems like the show is in the same type of venue, and same conditions they have just taken out the tricks. In my opinion it should have been the other way around if not both. The first thing they should have done was brought the show space to regulation as a zoo environment and not a stage. The animals need to be taken care of first off then you can start to worry about the guest experience, there will be no experience in the first place if the guests see that the animal is in distress. after the animals are ok and healthy then they could add the tricks back in. Im sure it is the money that is keeping them from doing the right thing but to make more money they need to spend money to make the changes, you cant half do something to recover from the bad PR they have gotten for so long.
One of the most important things to note about this article is that they said that in order to redesign the orca show they're crapping a plan to double the size of their enclosures, which is really disturbing. It seems like to me that they're trying to fix the wrong issue. The reason that the majority people aren't going to Sea World anymore is because they're angry about how the orcas are housed, not because they're just bored of the traditional show. Even if they try and make the show seem more natural people will still be just as angry. If Sea World is really concerned with appealing to their customers they should be putting more effort toward the care of their animals. Obviously they'll never release the orcas, but they need to at least give them a little more space. Their reputation has been so tarnished at this point that without some serious change in this area they might not be around for much longer.
It is really great seeing sea world making some changes. They have been under harsh attack for years because of their mistreatment of animals and I am sure a lot of people are really excited that they are making their experience for the whales much more natural. I am not sure how entertaining this will be but it should make people happy. But I am sure not too many people will come around to this idea. The whales are still in captivity and I am sure those strongly against sea world will not waiver in their views. I do not blame them. I do not know even close to the whole story, but from what I have gleaned I can tell that these orcas in captivity do not do super well. They are not made for small tanks and although there are plans to expand the tanks, I do not think that will do much, but on the other hand it would be a big improvement. Now all of this is conjecture and I truly know nothing about this situation but it sounds like Sea World is trying, but trying is sadly not always good enough.
The backlash on SeaWorld and the decline of audience’s is an outcome anyone could have predicted. We as a society are trying to more forward to a more accepting society between human, so it only makes sense that we would also push for the equal and fair treatment of animals. Unfortunately I don’t foresee the change in creating a more natural environment and doubling the tank size of the orcas being enough to bring audiences back. We are a culture that demands more from our spectacles than we once did and in creating a more human environment I see it as taking a step in the audience’s craving of entertainment and will only lead to more of a decline in attendance. In reality the orca is still in captivity in a tank. Changing the size of the tank and omitting the circus trick doesn’t take away from the fact that they are still in captivity. Besides the fact that they claim to be helping rescued animals, they are soon going to become nothing more than a high end aquarium with a TV show.
I remember going to Sea World when I was a kid, and one of my favorite things to do was watch the Shamu show. Of course as a kid, I was never aware as to the situation of various animals, and I believe that marine life has perhaps a little more difficult time than those animals of the land. I still haven’t seen the documentary Blackfish, but I still have the notion that the shows are great to watch. Growing up and having a few more years on me, has allowed me to have a better understanding for the various types of care given to animals. It will be interesting to see the type of show that they come up with to help turn the public image from a negative to a positive. By expanding the tanks, and creating a more natural environment should be able to dramatically improve the situation of most of the orcas. You are almost turning the exhibit into the zoo. Then again Sea World is a much more glorified zoo. With all of the antics and tricks, they have been fun to watch, just now though everyone is getting uptight about how animals are being taken care of.
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