Showing posts with label Joel Manby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joel Manby. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
It's Working! SeaWorld Is Sinking as Attendance Drops by Half a Million Visitors
Largely thanks to the critically-acclaimed documentary Blackfish, which exposed the shocking mistreatment and abuse captive cetaceans endure at marine parks like SeaWorld, the business has seen ticket sales drop. Attendance at the parks dropped another 5.5 percent in 2017, after dropping 3.3 percent the year before, indicating that the influence of Blackfish is still spreading. However, SeaWorld told investors that profits were not affected by the widespread criticism brought about by the film, fraudulent claims which have resulted in an investigation of the business by the Department of Justice. And SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby stepped down after failing to clean up their tarnished image, and other SeaWorld heads have since done the same. And if any more proof is needed that SeaWorld is sinking, SeaWorld San Diego has now reported half a million fewer visitors in 2017 than in 2016.
This refreshing news is a hopeful sign that the public is becoming increasingly aware of the dangers and cruelty involved in keeping cetaceans in captivity. Captive orcas like those exploited by SeaWorld are violently ripped away from their close-knit family pods in the wild and tossed in bathtub-like enclosures to pose as spectacles for noisy crowds in exchange for food. Life in captivity for these highly-intelligent animals leads to extreme mental and emotional trauma, commonly known as zoochosis, a serious psychological disorder exhibited by compulsive and destructive behavior like incessant swaying, head bobbing, chewing, self-mutilation, and even suicide attempts. Calves born in captivity are immediately taken away from their mothers, leading to tremendous anguish and ear-piercing cries from the mothers for weeks. Life in captivity also equates to broken and missing teeth and collapsed dorsal fins, and the inadequate conditions at parks can lead to abnormal and aggressive behavior, which is dangerous for the animals and people alike.
To read more on this story, click here: It's Working! SeaWorld Is Sinking as Attendance Drops by Half a Million Visitors
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Seaworld: Three Other Things the Park Will Stop Doing Now That it’s Ending its Marine-Cruelty Program
Have you heard the glorious news? SeaWorld has finally
decided to end its orca breeding program.
Right before St. Patrick’s Day, the marine theme park
announced that its current generation of orcas will be its last. In a recent LA
Times OpEd, Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, said the change was made because the
park wants to help contribute “to the evolving understanding of one of the
world’s largest marine mammals [the orca].”
In addition to ending its orca breeding program, SeaWorld
will also cease to produce and put on its “theatrical orca whale shows.”
This announcement is great–and long overdue. So overdue
that we feel comfortable poking a little fun at the park’s announcement by
listing 3 other things–albeit fictional things–that the park will also stop
doing now that it’s ending its marine-cruelty program.
Lower Ticket Prices
There is not a single theme park in the United States that
doesn’t expect a ridiculous amount of money to ride attractions that are over
in three minutes, or to look at animals that you typically don’t see every day.
Well, now that SeaWorld has decided to stop breeding orcas and training them to
put on ridiculous stunts for the masses, the park’s entry price will inevitably
drop. After all, everyone knows that orca imprisonment is really expensive.
Stop Giving Out Free Marine Pets to Park Guests
It seems only natural that a park that keeps large,
magnificent creatures hostage would also be thoughtless enough to give away
smaller, but equally wonderful creatures to anyone who enters the park. So, in
a groundbreaking move, SeaWorld also will stop giving away precious crabs,
fish, and other small types of sea life to the park’s guests. So compassionate…
SeaWorld, as a Whole, is Going to Stop Functioning as a
Park and Will Become a Marine Sanctuary
Yes, sea sanctuaries can exist and help marine life in
need. SeaWorld has finally seen the light, listened to its most adamant
critics, and decided to stop profiting off the backs of sea creatures. One of
the park’s biggest critics is John Hargrove, author of “Beneath the Surface:
Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish” and former senior
trainer. A year or so ago, he said the following about the brilliance of sea
pens and ocean sanctuaries:
“I’ve spoken with some brilliant-minded people, and I
believe sea sanctuaries are a viable solution. They [SeaWorld] should follow
the example of the Ringling Brothers, who recently acknowledged that their
customers had shifted in their thinking about having elephants in captivity. So
by 2018, all of Ringling Brothers’ elephants are going to be retired to elephant
sanctuaries. SeaWorld wants to make it sound like it’s impossible. But we’ve
been doing sea pens or sea sanctuaries since the seventies. The U.S. Navy had
an open-ocean killer whale in a sea pen years ago…”
While we’re obviously trying to have a little fun with this
list, we do think it would be great if SeaWorld did begin to use sea pens.
Because if the park really did care about marine life, it would do all it could
to make all marine creatures’ lives better.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, Has Admitted That His Employees Were Ordered to Infiltrate Animal Rights Protests
The chief executive of SeaWorld has admitted his employees
were ordered to infiltrate animal rights protests against the company’s alleged
mistreatment of killer whales and dolphins in its controversial aquatic theme
parks.
Joel Manby, SeaWorld’s CEO, acknowledged on Thursday that
the company was wrong to ask human resources employee Paul McComb to pose as an
animal rights activist and join Peta protests against the company since at
least July 2014.
“This activity was undertaken in connection with efforts to
maintain the safety and security of employees, customers and animals in the
face of credible threats,” Manby said of the tactics used by McComb, who was
exposed as an undercover SeaWorld employee by Peta protesters last summer.
Manby said on Thursday that SeaWorld directors had ordered
“management to end the practice in which certain employees posed as animal
rights activists”.
Manby’s statement came during a conference call with
investors following the release of another year of disappointing earnings. More
than $160m (£115m) was wiped off SeaWorld’s market value on Thursday as the
company’s shares – which were worth as much as $39 in 2013 – fell 11% to
$17.60.
McComb, who posed as an animal rights activist named Thomas
Jones, is still employed by SeaWorld. “Mr. McComb remains an employee of
SeaWorld, has returned to work at SeaWorld in a different department and is no
longer on administrative leave,” the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman
for SeaWorld refused to answer any questions about McComb.
Whilst undercover, McComb had urged other protesters to
“burn it [SeaWorld] to the ground” and used Facebook and Twitter to incite
other activists to “get a little aggressive” and “drain the new tanks at
#SeaWorld”.
In the run-up to a July 2014 protest, Jones urged other
activists: “Grab your pitchforks and torches. Time to take down SeaWorld.”
Tracy Reiman, Peta’s executive vice-president, said:
“SeaWorld’s latest report confirms not only that the company has employed more
than one spy to infiltrate and agitate at Peta but also that it values its
spies more highly than the executives ... as at least one of the spies is still
working at the company.
“SeaWorld’s finances continue to flop as animals continue
to be found dead in its tiny tanks, with one death every single month since
November. If SeaWorld had business savvy or common sense, it would modernize
its business with coastal sanctuaries and virtual reality displays instead of
building more roller coasters and dolphin prisons. The tawdry orca sideshows
and despicable spying tactics are sinking SeaWorld’s ship.”
SeaWorld on Thursday said its 2015 earnings fell 2% to
$361m as sales dropped by $6.8m to $1.37bn.
The company, which has been under intense public pressure
since the 2013 release of Blackfish, a documentary cataloguing the alleged
mistreatment of whales, dolphins and their trainers, said attendance increased
by 0.3% to 72,000 but this was only possible due to “increased promotional
offerings”.
Facing consumer backlash fanned by celebrities including
Harry Styles, Cher and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, SeaWorld has said it will put
an end to “theatrical killer whale experience” – but only at its park in San
Diego, California, where the drop in attendance has been most acute.
Manby said the company will replace its Californian Shamu
show – in which whales dive, jump and splash guests to the demands of their
trainers – with “an all new orca experience focused on the natural environment
[of the whales]” by 2017.
“We are listening to our guests, evolving as a company, we
are always changing,” Manby said as he unveiled a new corporate strategy in
November. “ 2016 will be the last year of our theatrical killer whale
experience in San Diego.”
He said the decision to end the orca shows in California
was in direct response to customers, who he said had made it clear that they
want less of a theatrical experience and would rather see the whales in a more
natural setting. Attendance at the San Diego park is falling fast. Visitor
numbers dropped 17% in 2013 to 3.8 million, according to city authorities.
As part of its strategy to move away from circus-style
performances, SeaWorld last week replaced two top executives in charge of
animal safety and theme park operations. “The leadership changes we announced
last week are another important step on our roadmap to stabilization and
growth,” Manby said on Thursday.
Paul McComb posed as ‘Thomas Jones’ and infiltrated Peta at least as early as July 2014. Photograph: Facebook/Peta.
Tweets by activist Thomas Jones, who is allegedly Paul McComb, a SeaWorld employee. Photograph: Twitter
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