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Associated Press

SeaWorld will end orca shows at its flagship San Diego park after visitors at the tourist attraction made it clear they prefer seeing killer whales act naturally rather than doing tricks, the company's top executive said.
CEO Joel Manby told investors on Monday the park — where the iconic “Shamu” show featuring killer whales doing flips and other stunts debuted decades ago — will offer a different kind of orca experience focusing on the animal's natural setting and behaviours, starting in 2017.
WATCH: 'Blackfish' trailer

Animal rights activists called the move a marketing gimmick and want the company to phase out holding any whales in captivity.
“An end to SeaWorld's tawdry circus-style shows is inevitable and necessary, but it's captivity that denies these far-ranging orcas everything that is natural and important to them,” said Jared Goodman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “This move is like no longer whipping lions in a circus act but keeping them locked inside cages for life.”

The Orlando, Florida-based company has seen revenue drop since the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish that examined how orcas respond to captivity. It chronicles the case of Tilikum, a killer whale that caused the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010 by pulling her into a pool at SeaWorld Orlando.
Attendance has dropped the most at the San Diego location, and the decision to end orca shows will be limited for now to that park, the original home of Shamu, its first orca.
The shows will continue at the other two SeaWorld parks in San Antonio and Orlando.
The killer whale shows at the Shamu stadium in San Diego were the park's main draw in the 1970s and helped build SeaWorld as a top tourist attraction. Trainers would ride the whales in the giant pool before getting out and signaling for the orca to slap its tail in the water to splash spectators in a “splash zone.”
After Brancheau's death, trainers stopped going in the water during the shows, but they continue to swim with the killer whales while training them.
Manby told investors Monday that California customers want to see a less theatrical production, so the new attraction will have a strong conservation message.
“They want the orca experience to be activities the whales do in the wild,” Manby said. “Things they perceive as tricks, they don't like as well.”
However, that's not “universal across our properties,” he added.
The news came days after SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. reported its third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations.
SeaWorld earlier this year announced plans for a US$100 million expansion of the killer whale tanks in San Diego to boost attendance, but the California Coastal Commission made approval of the project, dubbed “Blue World,” contingent on SeaWorld agreeing not to breed, transfer or sell any of its captive orcas at the park.
Manby called the ruling — which SeaWorld plans to fight in court — a bad precedent for not only SeaWorld but all zoos and aquariums. He indicated to investors that the company might shelve the San Diego project.

Watch: SeaWorld to phase out killer whale show in San Diego
“We certainly know with the regulatory environment out there that happened with orcas, and some of what happened in California, with the reputation out there, I think we would be foolish if we didn't look at other options,” Manby said.
He announced that the company is considering adding hotels at its parks, starting with San Diego, to attract overnight visitors.
SeaWorld has reached an agreement with a hotel developer to embark on the exploratory phase.


Whale fail: SeaWorld to end orca shows by 2017, amid ‘Blackfish’ backlash

An orca whale performs during the One Ocean show at SeaWorld San Diego on Oct. 9, 2015 in San Diego. Battered by controversy over its treatment of killer whales, SeaWorld San Diego announced plans for a new attraction to boost sliding attendence numbers, and intends to phase out its killer whale show. (K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2006, file photo, an unidentified trainer interacts with one of SeaWorld's seven killer whales during a show in San Diego. SeaWorld will end its orca shows at its San Diego park by 2017, its top executive said Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, saying customers at the location have made clear they prefer killer whales acting more naturally rather than doing tricks. (AP Photo/Chris Park, File)

An orca whale performs during the One Ocean show at SeaWorld San Diego last month. Photo: Tribune News Service

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