iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SAN DIEGO) — SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. announced on Friday plans to build new, first-of-its-kind environments for its killer whales at its parks in San Diego; Orlando, Florida; and San Antonio, while also funding programs to research and protect the oceans and killer whales in the wild.
Following the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish, SeaWorld has seen lagging attendance figures and negative publicity.
On Friday, the company announced that it would build the first of the new killer whale environments at its San Diego park. The habitat will double the water volume of the existing facility, holding 10 million gallons of water, and measuring about 50 feet deep and 350 feet long. In addition to providing the killer whales with more space, the environment will also provide guests with “the world’s largest underwater viewing experience of killer whales.”
SeaWorld says the project will expand on their “legacy of leading-edge animal environmental design,” and is expected to open to the public in 2018, with similar projects at SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Antonio to follow.
As part of the project, SeaWorld will also commit $10 million in matching funds focused on studying threats to killer whales in the wild. The projects will aim to understand the hearing ranges of killer whales, the nutritional status and reproduction of the Southern Resident Killer Whale. The matching funds are in addition to research that will be conducted by SeaWorld’s scientists.
SeaWorld also plans on undertaking a “major multi-million dollar partnership focused on protecting the ocean.”
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