SeaWorld: The History

SeaWorld is part of a larger organization called SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. SeaWorld has three locations with amusement parks. They are located in Orlando, Florida, San Diego, California, and San Antonio Texas. They once even had a park in Ohio, but due to the inclement weather it closed in 2001.  SeaWorld originally opened in 1964 in San Diego and had over 440,000 visitors in their first year. They employ over 23,000 employees worldwide.


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SeaWorld's Animals

SeaWorld Parks are known for the exotic animals visitors can view and sometimes even touch. They own thousands of animals of all varieties, not just aquatic. However, this does not consist of any animals that they have or are treating outside of the parks. The main attraction at any of the SeaWorld parks are the killer whales (also known as orcas). They currently have 22 killer whales in their parks and you can read more info about each of those whales here (including their location and birth date). Below, you can see a family tree chart of some of the whales. 

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There are numerous reasons why SeaWorld is in the news, but the most well known reason is for Blackfish. This was a documentary/movie made about Tilikum a killer whale that was held in captivity and died there (which many saw as a result of his treatment at SeaWorld). SeaWorld has been accused of forced breeding, physically hurting their whales, putting whale trainers in danger, and having poor living facilities for many of their animals. While it is true that there have been numerous trainer injuries and a trainer death by the killer whales, was it due to frustration from their habitats and treatment? We'll explore more of what SeaWorld has to say about what they do next time.

Most information provided by SeaWorld Entertainment and SeaWorld of Hurt

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 21, 2017 at 11:16 AM

    I am interested in reading more about trainer injuries and trainer death at SeaWorld. Could you provide me with links to any news or articles about this issue? Also, what kind of other exotic creatures do SeaWorld offer to its visitors?

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    1. Katelyn ClaryApril 21, 2017 at 6:04 PM

      Here's a link to a video of an injury as well as more info about Dawn's death. http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/seaworld-trainer-dawn-brancheau-death/ SeaWorld hosts a lot of exotic creatures including walruses, water monitors, dolphins, and polar bears to name a few.

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  2. AnonymousApril 23, 2017 at 10:14 PM

    I had no idea that SeaWorld has existed since 1964, it also surprises me that this issue involving the orcas hadn't arisen sooner. I had heard about deaths of trainers in the past, but never as much concern for the animals, which may be a sign that people are valuing the well-being of animals now more than ever.

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  3. Katelyn ClaryApril 24, 2017 at 6:18 AM

    I agree. I didn't know that SeaWorld was so well established. I would say that people are putting more and more values into the well-being of animals. PETA is growing into a larger group and more people are becoming pescatarian and vegetarian and vegan. All of these things are changing and helping the world. But there's plenty more work to be done.

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  4. babApril 24, 2017 at 10:53 AM

    The family tree is very interesting. I wasn't aware that they had bread so many whales at Seaworld. I'm interested in how they handle the breading process.

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    Replies
    1. Katelyn ClaryApril 24, 2017 at 1:26 PM

      I did not look in to the breeding process personal, but from some of the snippets I found they did the breeding manual, however, this may not be true. It would take more research, but I have a feeling that they didn't treat these animals ethically in any way.

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