New Whale Injury Prompts PETA SeaWorld Protest

Group's 'Bloodied,' Bandaged 'Orca' Will Lead Call for Feds to Charge Park With Cruelty for Preventable Attack

For Immediate Release:
October 1, 2012

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

San Diego -- PETA members—accompanied by a costumed "bloody orca"—will descend on SeaWorld in San Diego on Wednesday. The action comes in the wake of a serious and needless injury to the orca Nakai, who lost a dinner plate–sized chunk of his lower mandible down to the bone. According to a whistleblower, Nakai was attacked by other frustrated, captive orcas, even though the federal Animal Welfare Act prohibits housing incompatible orcas together. PETA has submitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for an immediate investigation and any appropriate fines and other penalties.

When:   Wednesday, October 3, 12 noon

Where:  SeaWorld, 399 SeaWorld Dr., San Diego

"The lives of orcas at SeaWorld consist of privation, stress, injury, and premature death," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "Their cruel confinement turns them into crazed ticking time bombs who attack and have even killed each other."

Whereas orcas in the wild travel up to 100 miles per day in closely knit groups, at SeaWorld they're confined to tanks that in human terms are equivalent to the size of a bathtub. The captive orcas often express their stress through aggression by snapping and gnawing at the tank gates, causing broken teeth and chronic pain, and they often die prematurely.

For more information, please visit PETA's blog.