Today SeaWorld announced its plan for a new habitat for its orcas, one which will develop at all three of its facilities, starting off with its San Diego one. The new orca pool will spread over 1.5 acres and have a maximum depth of 50 feet.
I'm honestly not sure how impressive this is or not (though the drawings do look amazing). I'd love to have more details about this - how they settled on these numbers, how it compares to their current enclosure, how many animals this is meant to accommodate, etc (yes, the information is all out there on the internet, but I like it better when it's put together neatly, without having to hunt for it from different sources).
The reactions have been predictable so far. Many fans have become very excited about the project (ground breaks next year, with projected completion in 2018). Others are still on the Blackfish bandwagon and maintain that it's too little, too late.
Orcas are doubtlessly the most controversial species in captivity (other cetaceans, as well as polar bears and elephants crowd them at the top of the list). It will be very interesting to see how this project influences the debate about keeping this species in marine parks. Time will tell...
No comments:
Post a Comment