TripAdvisor Cuts Ties With SeaWorld

This week, travel company TripAdvisor pledged to cease sales of tickets to any company that breeds or imports captive cetaceans for public display, most notably SeaWorld, with the goal of making captive animals currently living in water parks the last generation to be kept in captivity. The move comes after animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) consulted with the company about the cruelty involved in keeping marine animals captive for entertainment purposes. “TripAdvisor has officially rejected tourism to marine mammal prisons like SeaWorld, where sensitive, complex, far-ranging aquatic animals are kept in tiny tanks,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said. “TripAdvisor is rightly rejecting animal-exploiting operations, and PETA is calling on tourists and all other travel companies to do the same.” SeaWorld’s attendance, stocks, and profits have been in decline since 2013 when documentary Blackfish exposed the abuse marine animals are subjected to at the troubled water park.  A veterinary report released this year shows that animals held captive at SeaWorld suffer severe stress, disease, and injuries which leads to early deaths. This year alone, a growing list of companies—including WestJet airlines, Taco Bell, United Airlines, and Thomas Cook—have ceased promoting SeaWorld.