What’s in the Box? Crying ‘Orca’ to Call for Release From SeaWorld

PETA to Draw Attention to Riveting Documentary Blackfish and Cruel Marine Capture Practices

For Immediate Release:
October 22, 2013

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382 

San Diego – A giant, mysterious crate is sure to draw onlookers in downtown San Diego on Wednesday. The crate, which will emit high-pitched orca distress calls, will be emblazoned with labels reading, “Shipping to SeaWorld” and “Live Orca.” PETA members flanking the orca crate will encourage passersby to stay away from SeaWorld and to watch the critically acclaimed documentary Blackfish, which will premiere on CNN on Thursday at 9 p.m. 

When:   Wednesday, October 23, 12 noon

Where:  Northwest corner of Broadway and Second Avenue, San Diego

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, the orca who killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau—his third human victim—in 2010 and explores how locking intelligent, sensitive marine mammals in concrete tanks and depriving them of all that’s natural and important to them leads them to violent acts of frustration and perhaps revenge killings. In the wild, orcas share intricate relationships with one another, swim as far as 100 miles every day, and work cooperatively to find food. Many orcas at SeaWorld, including Tilikum, were rounded up rodeo-style and taken from their family pods in the wild.

“Families who learn how SeaWorld separates baby orcas from their families and condemns them to a lifetime in a tiny tank will never set foot in the theme park again,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA urges all prospective SeaWorld visitors to watch Blackfish and see for themselves the barbarity of capture and the misery of captivity for these once free-living animals.”

For more information, please visit SeaWorldOfHurt.com.