SeaWorld Orlando is reportedly ending a practice that allowed the public to feed dolphins directly, the latest change to the way its animals interact with human visitors.



Starting next month, visitors will no longer be able to buy small, $7 trays of fish to feed dolphins directly. The company will instead sell $15 packages that will include touching the dolphins under a trainer’s supervision.

SeaWorld Orlando is the last of the three SeaWorld theme parks in the US to allow the public to feed its dolphins poolside. A spokesman told the Orlando Sentinel the program is similar to ones offered at its other two US locations, in San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California.

“We made this change to elevate the guest experience,” SeaWorld spokesperson Aimée Jeansonne Becka said via email. SeaWorld no longer permits reporters to interview representatives over the phone. “This new program is for those who would like to interact with the animals in an even more up-close and personal way, and have a reserved time and opportunity to do so.”



Experts say the move could be an effort to limit bites by dolphins, which has happened occasionally throughout the exhibit’s existence, or to bring in more revenue as attendance declines.

“I actually think it’s an improvement in the situation,” said Naomi Rose, a marine mammalogist with the Animal Welfare Institute who has lobbied against dolphin and orca captivity. “[It’s] certainly not what I want – I want the whole thing to end.”

The theme park chain has been the subject of intense criticism since the 2013 documentary Blackfish. The film explored whether captivity is appropriate for killer whales – no matter the circumstances – after a star trainer at SeaWorld’s Orlando park was killed by a whale in 2010. Her death also led to a complaint by trainers to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The dolphin-feeding program has also faced criticism. Animal rights groups have campaigned against the exhibits since the 1990s, when “petting pools” and public feedings became popular.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and Humane Society of the US issued a report on the topic as early as 2003, pointing out that feeding throughout the day by members of the public led to both obese and underweight dolphins, because some animals would become more aggressive than others.

Rose said it was also common for foreign objects to be dropped in tanks, leading to one dolphin developing zinc poisoning from consistently eating pennies.

“These dolphins were at the edge of the pool with their mouth agape, and they were absolutely shaking with eagerness to get a fish,” Rose said. “It was like watching a row of starving people being taunted with donuts hanging over their heads.”

“Basically, dolphins are bored out of their skulls in captivity,” said Mark Palmer, associate director of the International Marine Mammal Project at the Earth Island Institute. “We have terrible problem with dolphins in captivity eating all kinds of garbage, plastic.”

In 2012, video of an eight-year-old girl being bitten by a dolphin while feeding the animals at the Orlando park went viral. At the time, a spokesperson for the theme park told ABC News that the company they “regret” the experience, but that such bites are “few and far between”.

The company has also struggled financially.

In early 2013, SeaWorld’s corporate parent SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment went public with a $2.5bn valuation, but stock has consistently slid with declining attendance numbers. In August 2014, on the heels of a poor quarterly report, the stock price slid by almost one-third to $18, and hasn’t rebounded to its price at initial public offering.

Year over year, attendance at the parks has declined from 8.9 million visitors to 8.4 million, according to the most recent financial release from the third quarter of 2014. SeaWorld owns 11 theme parks in the US, but has recently announced its intention to open parks in the Middle East and Asia by 2020.

“Clearly 2014 has been a challenging year, but I am confident we are taking the necessary steps to address our near term challenges and position the company to deliver value over the long term,” said Jim Atchison, CEO and president of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc, in a statement.