By Ken Stone
SAN DIEGO (TOSD) — “Blackfish” may have moved viewers and supporters of banning orca shows at SeaWorld of San Diego, but it had no clout Tuesday in Sacramento.
Assembly Bill 2140, which would have put limits on Shamu displays and halted the San Diego park’s captive breeding program, was tabled by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, U-T San Diego reported.
Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, had introduced the legislation after attention given the “Blackfish” documentary on CNN and elsewhere.
KPBS reported via The Associated Press: “AB2140 .. will be revisited in the next year after a study is conducted.”
Fox 40 TV in Sacramento reported that committee members were “greeted with a packed hearing room on the fourth floor of the state Capitol. Dozens were crammed into the hallway outside the room, watching committee members and speakers on monitors.”
A short time after testimony began, Fox 40 said, the panel decided to hold the bill for interim study, “saying they need more time to study the details of the bill and the impacts on the orcas.”
An editorial published in Tuesday’s Sacramento Bee opposed the bill, saying:
“If the animal advocacy groups supporting proposed legislation to ban orcas in captivity have their way, orca shows at SeaWorld would be shut down permanently. But don’t believe that it will be a ‘Free Willy’ ending; a ban could do real harm to the very animals it seeks to protect. … SeaWorld’s orcas would remain at the park but be deprived of both the exercise they get from training and performing and the social lives these creatures have now. …
“It would also mean that millions of people – 4.6 million visited SeaWorld San Diego last year – wouldn’t make any connections with or learn about the marine mammals.”
*
Preceding reprinted from Times of San Diego
Follow the money.