Ever since the controversial documentary Blackfish, activists across the nation have been calling for San Diego’s Sea World to stop the way in which they breed, treat and train their performing whales.
A bill, called AB 2140, has been sent to lawmakers by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (d-Santa Monica) to stop whale shows at San Diego’s Sea World.
The Los Angeles Times reported that bill would make it so that all captive killer-whales would be returned to the wild and if that weren’t possible they must be held in sea pens and all performances must stop. The bill would also prohibit breeding captive whales.
Unfortunately for the creators of the bill, the California lawmakers decided to put aside the bill and not make a decision this session.
The Sacramento Bee stated that the bill was avoided and reportedly won’t be addressed at all until at least next year.
Even before the decision was made today, President of Sea World, John Reilly stated his beliefs on Blackfish and the bill proposed because of it. “AB 2140 embraces animal rights rhetoric (presented) in a movie dominated by falsehoods and questionable filmmaking techniques, putting all of SeaWorld’s good work at risk,” said Reilly.