Blackfish Backlash | Teen Ink

Blackfish Backlash

November 18, 2015
By davida2016 BRONZE, Sacramento, California
davida2016 BRONZE, Sacramento, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The Los Angeles Times Article "SeaWorld may be bouncing back from 'Blackfish' backlash" written by Hugo Martin shows the possibility of SeaWorld surfacing the rough water the 2013 documentary Blackfish drowned them in. Although the corporation made a few improvements and are looking at their current situation as a comeback in progress. From what was present in the article it seems that the company may still be stuck below the surface struggling to come up.


In the article SeaWorld seems to be doing more for wild orcas. So far SeaWorld has given a ten million dollar pledge to fund conservation of orcas in the wild. SeaWorld also committed 1.5 million to a partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help rebuild the population of endangered "southern resident" killer whales found off the Pacific Northwest (Martin Par 6-7). Though SeaWorld is showing some progress with outreach to wild orcas. Their sales and profits have not been as good as they were before Blackfish.


In 2012 before the release of Blackfish SeaWorld reeled in 77.4 million dollars, more than triple the 19.1 million it made in 2011. Their ticket sales rose in price and in all of their parks the attendance also grew during the year, to more than 24 million visitors chain-wide (Garcia Par 1-3). After the release of BlackFish SeaWorld's sales sank. Falling 4.2% in 2014, however, attendance rose 5.6% in the first three months of this year at its 11 theme parks and attractions, although it was an early Easter which  helped boost crowds. Revenue rose just 1% because the company had to use "promotional offerings" to help attract visitors, who spent less on average than a year earlier (Martin Par 9). Showing how much of a set back SeaWorld was put in after the release of Blackfish. Though it seems SeaWorld’s CEO has high hopes for a comeback of some sorts, it seems with all the information that a comeback may not be in SeaWorld’s future.


Joe Manby SeaWorld's new CEO spoke in regards to the corporations bounce back saying "It's very early, though, and it's part of a long-term, very targeted initiative" (Martin Par 10). It seems Analyst would disagree with his statement and whether or not the counterattack will work, or if SeaWorld’s future profitability will permanently be damaged by Blackfish controversy (Martin Par 11). The facts so far show SeaWorld’s initiative on actually helping the animals but in the end the Profits seem to be barely surfacing the water keeping SeaWorld trapped within the hole Blackfish pushed them into.



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