LONG BEACH, Calif. — The California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego — but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.
Animal rights activists praised the decision as a death blow to the use of killer whales at the California ocean park.
The no-breeding vote “ensures that no more orcas will be condemned to a nonlife of loneliness, deprivation and misery,” said a statement from People from the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“These 11 orcas would be the last 11 orcas there,” PETA lawyer Jared Goodman said after the meeting.
The last-minute amendment would ban breeding of captive orcas, including through artificial insemination, at the California park but not at SeaWorld facilities in other states.
The amendment does provide a potential exemption for certain whales caught in the wild but it wasn’t immediately clear whether that applied to any of the orcas at the San Diego park.
In a statement, SeaWorld said it was disappointed by the conditions attached to the approval of its “Blue World” expansion, set to open in 2018, which would triple the size of existing killer whale enclosures.
“Breeding is a natural, fundamental and important part of an animal’s life and depriving a social animal of the right to reproduce is inhumane,” the park said.
The commission vote followed a daylong hearing during which dozens of speakers argued for and against expansion.
Animal rights groups said the new tanks would lead to more captivity for orcas.
The commission that regulates land and water use along the California coast attached several conditions to the approval, including that no new whales from the wild will be kept there. SeaWorld says it hasn’t captured wild orcas in more than 30 years.
Attendance at the California park has declined since the release of the population documentary “Blackfish” in 2013, which suggests SeaWorld’s treatment of captive orcas provokes violent behavior.
At the meeting, SeaWorld veterinarian Hendrik Nollens disputed what he called “outlandish accusations” from critics of the park. The whales are enriched and stimulated, he said, not stressed or depressed.
“We care for these animals as if they were family,” Nollens told the panel. “We have nothing but the whales’ best interest at heart.”
About 500 people filled the meeting room to capacity, roughly divided between SeaWorld supporters and critics. Outside, hundreds of people who couldn’t get into the meeting room watched the session on oversized screens.
Coastal Commissioner Gregory Cox, who favored the expansion, said it would be a good thing to increase the size of the orcas’ habitat.
But Commissioner Dayna Bochco, who brought up the no-breeding amendment, said she agreed with scientists who believe that the killer whales are suffering in captivity.
