SeaWorld Says It Will No Longer Put Trainers in Water with Orcas, by David Kirby

Trainers in Tanks With Orcas? Never Again, Says SeaWorld
But can the amusement park be trusted to stand by its word?

complete article
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/10/31/blackfish-effect-did-seaworld-agree-protect-killer-whale-trainers-because-fallout

November 1, 2013
David Kirby

(Excerpts)

It’s been a big week for killer whales and the people who oppose captivity. Last Thursday, CNN first aired the documentary Blackfish, while running a flurry of stories about SeaWorld and the use of orcas in entertainment. But buried under the onslaught of coverage was a bit of news most people overlooked: SeaWorld announced it was abandoning plans to put trainers back in the water during shows at all of its Shamu Stadiums.

“Our trainers have not entered the water for performances since February 2010 and we have no plans for them to return to that kind of interaction with our whales,” Fred Jacobs told CNN in a written interview. It was the first time I can recall SeaWorld saying it had no intention to resume “waterwork” during shows.

SeaWorld pulled its trainers from waterwork immediately after the 12,000-pound bull Tilikum killed Dawn Brancheau at the Orlando park in February, 2010. But the company made no secret of its desire to one day resume waterwork during shows, when trainers ride, surf upon, and leap from the surging bodies of the ocean’s top predator. Yes, they hunt and eat sharks—even Great Whites.

So what happened?

It’s hard to say exactly. After all, SeaWorld is about to argue to overturn the OSHA violation on November 12 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Oral arguments for the company will be made by Eugene Scalia, son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who contends that a section of OSHA law known as the “general duty clause” does not apply to orca trainers.

“The clause cannot be used to force a company to change the very product that it offers the public and the business it is in,” SeaWorld said in its written brief. “The clause is no more an instrument for supervising the interactions between whales and humans at SeaWorld, than it is a charter to prohibit blocking and tackling in the NFL or to post speed limits on the NASCAR circuit.”

If the violation is overturned, as some analysts predict, SeaWorld will have every legal right to return orca trainers to waterwork.

Which begs the question: Why would SeaWorld preemptively announce the abandonment of its well-publicized interest to resume waterwork right before a landmark hearing the company might actually win, and after spending tens of millions of dollars on new technology to make waterwork safer?

I can see only two possible explanations: Either SeaWorld now realizes that swimming with captive orcas is indeed a safety hazard; or the company’s “plans” regarding waterwork are a publicity stunt, and might change if the Appeals Court agrees to dismantle the layers of protection that OSHA has tried to establish between whales and trainers.

Stay tuned…

(My note, it could be CNN airing of Blackfish really made a difference in public opinion)