Sea World visitor numbers plunge

The number of people visiting Sea World’s marine park captivity shows between January and March has fallen from 3.5 million in 2013 to 3.05 million this year, a slide of 13 per cent.

Sea World, which has parks in Florida, Texas and California, has also seen an annual fall in visitors of over 4 percent. The company’s captive orca shows have been subject to negative publicity from around the world and heavily criticised following the release of the acclaimed documentary Blackfish, which highlighted the cruelty related to keeping orcas in captivity and the dangers to the trainers who interact with them.

Released in January 2013, Blackfish focused on the death of Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer killed in 2012 by Tilikum, one of the orcas kept at Sea World’s Florida park, who has also been involved in the deaths of two other people during his time in captivity.