SAN ANTONIO -- Sea World announced Friday that they will be opening the first-of-its-kind, "Blue World Project" killer whale exhibits. Sea World said the first will be in San Diego, followed by Orlando, and then here in San Antonio.
"We will have the largest underwater viewing you can ever imagine which is what the rendering really is, to show you, because you can really see how people can get up close and connect with them in a way you've never been able to before," said San Antonio Sea World Park President, Dan Decker.
The plans call for an habitat that will be 50 feet deep and have views over 40 feet in height, benefiting not just park-goers but the animals themselves. Decker said, "With that we will make better arrangements for our husbandry and animal care folks to work with our animals, and make sure they have even better care than they have today, which is the best state-of-the-art care in the world."
The care the animals receive has been under scrutiny ever since the release of the documentary "Blackfish," which placed Sea World in a very unfavorable light. Just this month, Sea World announced it's stock prices had plunged 33 percent since the release of the documentary.
"They have no business living in a concrete tank, being forced to perform stupid tricks for profit, for this large organization that does not care about these animals," said one protester shortly after the release of the documentary.
PETA responded to today's announcement saying it was a desperate move to save the company, and in a statement said, "What could save it would be the recognition that it needs not to make larger tanks but to turn the orcas out in seaside sanctuaries so that they can feel and experience the ocean again, hear their families, and one day be reunited with them. A bigger prison is still a prison."
Sea World called "Blackfish" misleading and inaccurate. The park said they love killer whales just as much as everybody else, and the construction of this new state of the art larger habitat is proof of that.
