SeaWorld’s new orca attraction gets Coastal Commission OK
SeaWorld San Diego won easy approval Friday from the California Coastal Commission to begin work on a new set for its planned orca encounter debuting next summer.
The new attraction will replace SeaWorld’s long-running theatrical Shamu show with what the park is calling a more educational presentation showcasing the killer whales’ natural behaviors in the wild.
The decision to phase out the Shamu show came earlier this year when parent company SeaWorld Entertainment also announced that it would cease breeding its killer whales, making the current generation of orcas its last.
Up for consideration before the commission on Friday were plans for a whole new backdrop for the orca encounter, designed in a way to convey a more naturalistic environment.
The current set, now dominated by four LED screens and a giant depiction of a whale tail, will be replaced with a new backdrop behind the show pool intended to mimic an outdoor coastal setting in the Pacific Northwest.
The new scenery will feature a rugged coastal inlet, artificial Douglas fir trees, cliffs, and waterfalls, framed by a rock facade fashioned from fiberglass.
SeaWorld said it expects to begin construction in January, with a planned opening sometime in the summer.
“The new Orca Encounter takes killer whale presentations to a new level of education, allowing us to inform millions of park guests over the next several decades about the natural history, physical abilities and the conservation steps necessary to ensure the future survival of this species in the wild,” SeaWorld San Diego park president Marilyn Hannes said following the meeting.
Just last year, SeaWorld went before the Coastal Commission seeking approval of a now abandoned plan to double the volume of the orcas’ habitat. While the commission OK’d the plan, it imposed a condition that SeaWorld cease breeding its orcas.
The company protested, but months later, responding to mounting public pressure, announced it would end captive breeding of its killer whales at all three namesake marine parks.
SeaWorld Entertainment’s revenues and attendance have suffered for more than a year, in part, due to fallout from ongoing criticism of its breeding and holding of killer whales. It is set to release third quarter earnings next Tuesday.
lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2251
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