Arthur Levine

Special for USA TODAY

Between the fallout from the Blackfish documentary, mounting sentiment against its orca shows and the practice of keeping whales in captivity, and declining attendance at its marine life parks, SeaWorld faced a Shamu-sized crisis.

In March 2016, the theme park company took bold steps to address its predicament. It announced that it had ended its killer whale breeding program and that the animals now under its care would be the last generation. SeaWorld also said that it would modify its orca shows. And it announced an unlikely partnership with one of its former critics, the Humane Society, to work together on rescue efforts, conservation, and other animal welfare matters.

For a company that based its identity and built its brand around killer whales, the obvious question is: Now what? With its announcement of new roller coasters, rides, shows, and other features coming this year, SeaWorld offers a sense of its new vision and how the parks will evolve.

Perhaps the company's most significant rebranding development will take place at the original SeaWorld in San Diego. The park will introduce a new orca encounter presentation next summer in its Shamu Stadium.

SeaWorld's flagship shows have long featured orcas in choreographed performances complete with music, acrobatics, filmed segments, comedy, and other razzle-dazzle. The animals literally as well as figuratively made a big splash. "It was like Cirque du Soleil with whales," explains Joel Manby, CEO, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "Now we are transitioning to an educational encounter." The Orlando and San Antonio parks will follow suit and transform their Shamu shows by 2019.

Instead of being the stars of a variety show, the orcas will get to do their own thing in a more natural setting according to the company. Audiences will learn about the animals' behaviors in the wild including their hunting, communication, and navigation skills. If that sounds a bit too heavy on the "edu" side of the edutainment equation, Manby says that the presentations will have the look and feel of a slick television documentary, but the distinctive experience of being live. "It'll be a heckuva lot of fun to watch," he assures. "But it will also be inspiring, meaningful, and compelling."

Significantly, the SeaWorld CEO emphasizes what the orca encounter won't be. "We will no longer use the whale stadium for animal entertainment." Despite the end of the breeding program, Manby points out that the parks' orcas won't be going away anytime soon. With their long life spans and the care that they receive, he expects the animals to be in the spotlight for another 50 years.

Will the tweaked orca show be enough to change hearts and minds about SeaWorld and boost flagging attendance? Manby thinks there will be a short-term uptick and predicts that turnstile clicks will be up this year for the first time in four years at the San Diego park. But he acknowledges the choppy waters the park chain faces and takes a pragmatic, long-term view. "I hope five years from now people will look at SeaWorld and think, 'That's a company I want to support.' We have a long way to go -– but we have the vision."

Even when the company introduces a ride, it incorporates SeaWorld's recalibrated vision and aims to include educational experiences that engage visitors. For example, the California park will also debut Submarine Quest, a custom attraction geared to younger guests and their families. It will be part of a new Ocean Explorer land slated to open next summer. Riders will take a three-minute tour of the land and engage in an interactive scavenger hunt-like experience.

The "subs" will actually be land-based, six-passenger vehicles that will ride on an elevated track similar to Disney's Tomorrowland PeopleMover. They will be outfitted with kid-friendly equipment including "sonar," "radar," and video cameras, according to Brian Morrow, the company's VP of Theme Park Experience. Along the route, which will travel both indoors and outdoors, the young explorers will encounter challenges.

Submarine Quest will invite riders to fiddle with dials, knobs, and touch screens as they solve problems such as locating a virtual octopus that has camouflaged itself. Passengers will be able to choose the level of difficulty, and the system will incorporate smart tech gamification to adapt on the fly in response to rider performance. "It will be like you are really in a sub," Morrow says, "and you get to be the captain."

In addition to the digital creatures that the sub riders will meet, Ocean Explorer will feature real octopuses, giant spider crabs, eels, and other animals in aquariums. The land will also offer four additional family attractions including a swing ride themed as a jellyfish. In a cute touch, it will release bubbles to simulate an underwater experience.

SeaWorld's San Antonio park will roll out Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster. Reaching a top speed of 44 mph and a height of 61 feet, the family ride won't skimp on the fun. But it too will include an educational component, albeit a subtler one than some of the park chain's other new additions.

Capitalizing on Sea Rescue, the ABC TV show produced in collaboration with SeaWorld, the coaster train will feature cars that look like the Jet Skis used on the program. Passengers will straddle the coaster's seats, hang on to handlebars, and soar above the park's lake in an approximation of the rescue vehicles. Manby hopes the ride will inspire visitors to learn something about the plight of injured animals in the wild and consider becoming real-life rescuers. It's more likely, however, that most riders will be caught up in the thrills of the coaster's two magnetic launches and its airtime moments.

In Florida, SeaWorld Orlando will dip its toe in the burgeoning trend of virtual reality coaster experiences by adding VR to the park's floorless coaster, Kraken, next summer. Rising 149 feet, hitting 65 mph, and featuring seven inversions, the ride is not for the squeamish (or for anyone who doesn't meet the 54-inch height requirement). The VR overlay will introduce passengers to the mythical namesake ocean beast, the Kraken.

SeaWorld will be the first Florida park to offer a VR coaster. Unlike Six Flags and other parks that have introduced the concept, SeaWorld is developing a custom system that will integrate the VR headsets, both mechanically and electronically, into the coaster trains. Morrow is hopeful that the setup will enable SeaWorld to minimize the load time delays that have plagued other VR coasters. "Pull your lapbar down, put on your goggles, and you'll be good to go," he says. Not surprisingly, Manby says that Kraken could be the first of many VR attractions for the park chain.

Also this summer, SeaWorld Orlando will make modifications to its dolphin nursery. With larger viewing windows, slide-out areas, and digital monitors that will display video from underwater cameras and other content, visitors will have greater access to the animals.

The Busch Gardens parks are also under the SeaWorld umbrella. This spring, Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia will open InvadR, a wooden coaster. With a 74-foot drop and a top speed of 48 mph, the ride will have a comparatively low 46-inch height requirement and be accessible to a large swath of the park's visitors. Located in the New France section, it will feature trains themed to villagers and invading Vikings.

The beleaguered company hopes that its retooled vision will strike a sympathetic chord with the general public. SeaWorld CEO Manby says that there are some fundamental truths that bode well for the parks. "People love animals and want to help them," he notes. "We want to be seen as the largest marine animal rescue organization in the world. We want people to come to our parks and have experiences that matter. While they're having a lot of fun, they'll also know that they are contributing to a company that's making the world a better place." If it accomplishes that, SeaWorld will, indeed, make a Shamu-sized splash.