Anyone who has watched the documentary Blackfish and witnessed the ensuing media frenzy knows that SeaWorld’s PR team has been in overdrive ever since. The doccie showed the consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity and the dangers it poses both to the trainers and the animals themselves.

Now the damage done to the theme park’s reputation has caused dwindling attendances and SeaWorld have set to address this through a new ad campaign. TIME reports:

The ads, which started appearing in print publications Monday, feature SeaWorld’s veterinarians and researchers defending the care of the orcas kept at the company’s parks while refuting attacks by animal rights groups like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…

SeaWorld’s ad campaign, which will eventually include television commercials, will also serve to highlight the company’s plan to commit $10 million to the study of endangered whales in the wild.

Whilst the company did pledge to build bigger enclosures for their orcas animal rights groups have pointed to the shorter lifespans of animals in captivity. This is one of the central points argued in the campaign, with independent sources saying the lifespans are not affected. Just how independent those sources are is something else all together,

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have refused to back down in their row, with senior vice president Lisa Lange putting out this statement:

Orcas belong in the ocean with their families, not in small concrete tanks, swimming in endless circles for years on end.

I would tend to agree she has a point there. Anyone who has been to a zoo and seen the animals ambling from corner to corner in a zombie-like state can’t help but feel for those poor beasts. Maybe it’s about time they ‘Free Willy’ once and for all.

[source:time]