SeaWorld denies creating giant ‘Jurassic World’-style orcas

nypost.com:

told The Sun Hargrove spent 20 years working at SeaWorld and played a prominent role in he 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which explored a series of deaths caused by Tilikum — one of the park’s most famed captive orca.

He told the newspaper that it was like “Jurassic World,” a reference to this summer’s blockbuster film featuring “hybrid dinosaurs.”“That is exactly what we did at SeaWorld,” Hargrove said. “[…]The main takeaway with creating a hybrid orca is that you truly have no idea what you’ve created because they don’t exist in nature.

So all things are possible,” he told the paper.He said the plan to create super-sized whales was hatched in an effort to boost attendance at its theme parks.SeaWorld denied Hargrove’s claims. “There is nothing new in these claims.

The wild characterizations from this former employee – who has not worked at SeaWorld in any capacity for 10 years – are designed to get clicks, not communicate facts or science,” a SeaWorld rep told Newsweek.The theme park ended its orca breeding program in March 2016.“SeaWorld is independently accredited, reviewed, and certified by both federal wildlife agencies and independent third-party experts to uphold the highest standards of animal care,” the rep said. “Much of what the world knows about killer whales today is because of what has been learned through nearly 60 years of care and study of orcas in accredited zoological facilities such as SeaWorld. “The company did not return requests for comment to The Post.SeaWorld’s captive killer whales have been a controversial topic among animal rights activists for years.