SeaWorld has announced its trainers will stop “surfing” on the backs of and standing on the noses of bottlenose dolphins during shows.
In its Feb. 5 decision, the popular marine-life park said it’s “continually evolving its animal presentations for both guests and their animals,” according to CNN.
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Though animal-activist organization PETA has been lobbying the park for a year to stop these practices, SeaWorld insists they aren’t harmful to its animals and, furthermore, that the group is made up of “ill-informed activists,” CNN continued.
The non-profit shared the news on Twitter, writing: “Progress! #SeaWorld finally listened to PETA and will stop using dolphins as surfboards. Trainers will no longer stand on dolphins’ faces or surf on them in SeaWorld’s circus-style shows!”
PETA published a statement on Dec. 10, 2019, calling for the end of this practice, saying that actor and PETA shareholder Alec Baldwin called for the end to this practice, too. This was right around the same time Canada voted to ban whale and dolphin captivity.
In the wake of this win for dolphins, settlement documents show that SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. agreed on Tuesday to pay $65 million to settle a lawsuit regarding the scathing documentary Blackfish.
The settlement, following a year-long battle, represents alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It would pay, CBS explains, $45.5 million using insurance proceeds and $19.5 million in cash.
SeaWorld, according to the documents, didn’t admit to any “fault, liability or wrongdoing.”
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The 2013 documentary Blackfish chronicles the life of Tilikum, an orca that killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau during an Orlando show in 2010. The film, which accuses the park of abuse, reportedly led to a decline in attendance and revenue at SeaWorld.
The park claims the film had nothing to do with the decline.
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