SeaWorld San Diego is expected to announce in a webcast this morning that they intend to phase out their Shamu killer whale show and replace it with a new experience by 2017.
Recently Joel Manby, CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment, hinted that some of the money that had been budgeted to expand the killer whale tanks as part of the Blue World project would instead go to a new attraction.
The new killer whale experience would take place in a natural setting and carry a conservation message.
In the last few years, SeaWorld has faced opposition at both the state and federal level, including a recent plan from California Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) to introduce legislation that would prohibit captive breeding, end the capture, and stop the import and export of killer whales.
There is no word as to the future of the Shamu shows in the Orlando or San Antonio parks.
Source/Photo: San Diego Union-Tribune
