The authoritarian decision by the California Coastal Commission to ban breeding of killer whales at SeaWorld San Diego seemingly carries the unusual assertion that the commission has the authority to regulate mammalian procreation in the coastal zone. The legal foundation for that is clearly shaky.

The commission was already on dubious legal ground when its staff demanded that, as a condition of approval for SeaWorld’s proposal to double the size of its orca habitat, it agree to take no more whales from the wild. That is a federal issue; the park is licensed and authorized to operate as a public display facility for orcas under two federal animal-welfare laws. But SeaWorld hasn’t taken any whales from the wild for 35 years anyway, so it agreed to that condition before Thursday’s hearing.

The new conditions prohibiting captive breeding and whale transfers, apparently meaning SeaWorld also cannot bring orcas here from its other parks, were another matter. They will over time mean the end of the park’s whale programs. And that could mean the end of SeaWorld, at least in San Diego.

The commission decision was based on emotion and shallow animal-rights politics. It fails to recognize that breeding is a fundamental part of orca life. Of the 32 killer whale calves born at all SeaWorld parks, only four were the result of artificial insemination.


But SeaWorld has options, the most obvious being a court challenge. We urge it to aggressively pursue that option.