Blue World Project ? Sea World A new groundbreaking and highly innovative 10 million gallon (2x larger than their current tanks) underwater viewing area for their orcas.
Hmm. Seems like it'll be an interesting project. I'm glad they'll finally add some improvements to that empty tank they currently have. I saw the announcement on the San Diego page so I'm guessing the project will be done there?
The show tanks will not be emptied (now sure I'd that's what you were implying), the shows will continue, this project is their new underwater vieiwng. It will start in San Diego on 2018 and work it's way to the other parks. My bet goes toward Orlando
Here is a news story with some more information about the project: Amid 'Blackfish' backlash, SeaWorld to expand orca environments - LA Times I'm wondering why the project will take until 2018 to open, seeing as construction can happen year-round in California much of the time. Maybe there is some demolition involved that they have to do first to make room?
Haha NOW can the anti-captive nuts deny that the whales are happy? NO! This is flawless and perhaps people will stop clambering to get rid of the whales!!!
I'm quite large in the Instagram (yes, it's childish but people enjoy my photos) Seaworld fan base and I can tell you that anticaptivity people are still very upset with the exception of only a few people.
Probably caused by the fact that people absolutely hate to admit they're wrong. I've disputed "facts" in Blackfish many times but people still idolize that movie. It doesn't help that most people won't even bother to research both sides. I've heard the term "slacktivism" used to describe this and it fits perfectly. People can see a movie about a controversial topic and they don't have to understand both sides. They'll typically end up siding with the movie's point of view because it requires no research.
What types of enrichment do you have to provide a killer whale? I'm assuming they all vary depending on the species of cetacean.
Have you been told to go to hell for proving Blackfish false while you were at it like I was multiple times? I the biggest lie that had people changing their opinions on SeaWorld was the calf separation segment. They supposedly show Kasatka using long range vocals to call for her missing baby, however, the orca they show doing this is not even Kasatka. The eye patch was way too thick and short to be her, heck based on the underwater viewing shown in the film that may have possibly been recorded at Orlando and not at San Diego. Making the female possibly Katina or Kayla. In SeaWorld's 69 Reasons to not watch Blackfish, they deny the fact that they never once had a vocal test done on Kasatka or any of their orcas, which I believe, making these 'long range calls' dubbed into the shot.
Well if there are to be huge acrylic underwater views, those pieces will take time to engineer, manufacture., ship and install
Like on Star Trek IV !! They would make their construction costs back just from Trekkies coming to see it!
The anti-captivity people are going to be unhappy until the whales are released. Apparently dead whales are better than healthy ones in captivity. Then they'll probably complain nobody ever told them that releasi them into the wild would kill them.
Dolphins are given swim rings, footballs, beach balls and a plastic buoys to play with. I've seen them try to play catch with people in San Diego. They'll toss out one of the balls in hopes of the person tossing it back. The orca are given float toys, small plastic barrels, unflavored gelatin and huge chunks of ice made by filling the metal fish buckets with ice and freezing it. Trainers play hide and go seek and squirt them with squirt guns. I'm sure there's other types of enrichment, but those are the ones I've seen the most when I used to go.
I don't think I've met anyone (outside of a few extremely ignorant people) who wants all of the whales to be released. It's primarily a strawman argument. Just retired or phased out. Personally I am glad to see improvements being made, and I hope a more natural environment like this will allow for some around-the-clock enrichment. But I still don't like orcas in captivity and I have some problems with SeaWorld itself. I also fear that the new facilities will be used as an excuse to breed the whales more frequently and kind of cancel out the whole "more space" thing. But I guess we'll see.
