SeaWorld takes out ads to defend itself against whale mistreatment accusations
SeaWorld is firing back against allegations that it mistreats killer whales.
December 20th, 2013
01:18 PM ET

SeaWorld takes out ads to defend itself against whale mistreatment accusations

Faced with a growing backlash from entertainers and others responding to a documentary film claiming mistreatment of whales, SeaWorld bought full-page ads in newspapers nationwide Friday to call the accounts inaccurate and paint its employees as "true animal advocates."

"The truth about SeaWorld is right here in our parks and people," the company said in the ad, which appeared in The New York Times and other papers.

SeaWorld has been battered in recent weeks since the television premiere of the documentary "Blackfish" on CNN.

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Filed under: Animals • U.S. • Whales
soundoff (12 Responses)
  1. banasy©

    The saddest thing I saw was the whale's fin that was flopped over...I don't know what the answer is, but that poor whale is obviously depressed.

    December 20, 2013 at 2:32 pm | Report abuse |
    • Juan Jiminez

      Banasy The Whale whisperer. Lol. Sorry banasy. Couldn't resist

      December 20, 2013 at 8:27 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      Lol. No harm, no foul.

      December 20, 2013 at 8:43 pm | Report abuse |
    • Emma Claire

      At SeaWorld around 80% of all the male killer whales have a collapsed dorsal fin, while in the wild less than 1% of all killer whales have even a slightly flopped dorsal fin. The dorsal fin collapses or bends due to stress, lack of swimming (or lack of pressure on the tissue in the fin due to little movement), and dehydration.

      December 30, 2013 at 9:03 pm | Report abuse |
  2. mom of four

    The gorillas in National Zoo did not make the decision to take the flight to the US from Africa and stay in the zoo. The elephants in the circus did not make the decision to separate from their families and do the stupid courtesy to the audience. So what makes Sea World worse than those examples? Be fair, people!! They did do a good job in keep the whales and animals there in the park. If you think Sea World is guilty, all zoos and circuses here are all the same!

    December 21, 2013 at 11:37 am | Report abuse |
    • Jon

      I would agree entirely. Start with SeaWorld and work on the rest of the problems after that. I understand the need to raise awareness and conduct awareness however I feel that many of these places are entirely profit focused with knowledge as a distant secondary goal.

      December 30, 2013 at 6:14 pm | Report abuse |
    • lingyai

      You obviously have never interacted with marine animals. I am a professional kayaker since the 70's and an ocean sportsman since the 50's. I was SCUBA certified in 1957.. (Yes, I'm getting old.) I had many conversations with whales, dolphin, seals, etc. Sea World is no better than the guy Castro in Detroit who held the girls captive for a decade. Sea World and Castro are monsters, and they do it for greed.

      Sorry guys, your ads are just burning money. There is no excuse for what you do. Come kayaking sometime and have a real conversation, perhaps a mother showing off her calf to me with the same emotion as a human mother taking her baby shopping in a stroller – or a dolphin winking in my eye as it does a 360 rotation directly before my eyes.

      Cetaceans may even be smarter than us. They came out of the sea. lived on land – and then decided to go back to the sea.

      You give them a life sentence, same as Castro got. Do you have the guts to go hang yourself same as Castro?

      January 11, 2014 at 4:34 am | Report abuse |
  3. Joey Isotta-Fraschini©

    Say–I've got an idea! I think I'll go into Petco and let all of the parakeets loose on the street, huh?
    Just think how much happier they'll be, free! Whee...fly, fly...

    December 21, 2013 at 4:52 pm | Report abuse |
  4. John Maier

    Joey and mom, you are both right. You are all right. We don't have the right to imprison wild animals. They are after all wild animals, not domesticated animals.

    December 24, 2013 at 8:48 am | Report abuse |
  5. Rascal Rabble

    joey and momma4 are cRaZy...caged fish i'm thinking caged sashimi...

    December 24, 2013 at 7:04 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Emma Claire

    Keeping animals whose brains have actually been proven to be larger than ours in tanks more than a millionth the size of their natural environment is simply illogical. Not only that, but SeaWorld's average killer whale only lives 7 years, 9 months, while in the wild the average is 65 years. I find it very hard to argue with those facts along with not one killer whale in Sea World has ever died of old age. Not a single one out of 37 killer whales.

    December 30, 2013 at 8:58 pm | Report abuse |
  7. LOUISE MARSH

    sea world is a disgusting cruel company, they fund the cruel dolphin hunt in Tiaji, and the whales and dolphin are kept in small enclosure in chlorinated water, ripped apart from their family members in the pod then starved to perform stupid tricks I HATE SEA WORLD BIG FAT GREEDY CRUEL CORPERATION!!!!!!!!!!

    January 11, 2014 at 8:18 pm | Report abuse |
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