Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/292656
The Associated Press SACRAMENTO » A bill that sought to end killer whale shows at SeaWorld in San Di- ego and phase out their cap- tivity was put on hold Tues- day, dousing an escalating fight between animal activ- ists and supporters of the major tourist attraction. The bill's author, Demo- crat Richard Bloom of Santa Monica, agreed during the bill's first hearing before the water, parks and wild - life committee to revisit his proposal after further study. As a result, AB2140 is dead for this year and the soonest lawmakers could vote on the proposal would be mid-2015. "It's unfortunate that much of the conversation has been fueled ... by fear and in - vective and misinformation," Bloom said. "It's clear that many committee members are simply unprepared to make a decision on the bill." Bloom was inspired by the 2013 documentary "Black - fish" in which filmmakers ar- gue that captivity and mis- treatment of orcas make the animals aggressive. It exam- ined the events leading to the 2010 death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in SeaWorld Or- lando when the whale Tili- kum pulled her underwater. John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer in Texas and San Diego who appeared in "Blackfish," told lawmak - ers at the hearing that or- cas appeared agitated and dragged him underwater multiple times. The bill would have banned the import, export and breeding of orcas while requiring SeaWorld San Diego to move its 10 killer whales out of tanks and into larger sea pens. Witnesses for the marine park said that was not a via - ble option, and SeaWorld lob- byist Scott Wetch told law- makers the bill would have likely resulted in the orcas being moved to parks out- side the state. Public outrage over the movie drove 1.2 million peo- ple to sign a petition that was delivered Monday to the As- sembly by three elementary school students who success- fully stopped an overnight school field trip to SeaWorld. Dozens of animal rights activists packed the hear - ing room on Tuesday to sup- port the bill, with more wait- ing outside. SeaWorld dismissed their contention that orcas are too intelligent and too large for captivity. "That argument is not based on credible peer-re - viewed science," John Reilly, president of SeaWorld San Diego Park, said in an inter- view. "It's based on emotion and a propaganda film." Reilly said the bill would be detrimental because al - most every visit to SeaWorld includes a killer whale show or viewing. Sa n D ie go R e g ion a l Cha mber of Commerce CEO Jerry Sanders said in a statement after the hear - ing that SeaWorld is impor- tant to the local economy be- cause it provides thousands of jobs and attracts millions of visitors. SeaWorld has mounted an aggressive public rela - tions campaign to discredit the film for relying on what it calls unqualified former em- ployees and biased experts. The publicly traded com- pany bought newspaper ads, set up a website coun- tering "Blackfish," and crit- icized the film on Twitter. SeaWorld says it expects re- cord revenue in 2013 despite the film. Recent filings, however, showed a dip in attendance at the start of the year that the company attributes to a change in how holidays fall in the calendar year. Witnesses for SeaWorld said the animals receive the highest level of care and provide opportunities for research to help conserve ki ll er w ha le s i n t he w il d. "The bill was deeply flawed and fundamentally flawed and didn't appear to have support today," Reilly said af - ter the hearing. "We believe strongly there is an inspira- tion benefit to people seeing (killer whales) in our park." Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute, a sponsor of the bill, said she was disappointed by the de - lay but believes science will ultimately show orcas are ill- suited for captivity. "Nobody likes to wait, but I've been doing this for over 20 years," she told reporters after the hearing. "I'm play - ing the long game." New York lawmakers have also been considering a bill to ban the captivity of killer whales, although there are none in the state. Rose said she had been working with lawmakers in Texas and Florida. STATE LEgiSLATuRE Bill that would end orca shows stalls Steve Yeater — the aSSociated PreSS Sea World San diego President John reilly testifies about a bill by assemblyman richard Bloom, d-Santa Monica, that would set new guidelines for treatment of killer whales in captivity. www.tehamafamilyfitness.com Tehama Family Fitness Center 2498 South Main St. Red Bluff • 528-8656 Pump & Run June 7, 2014 The Tehama Family Fitness Center presents a new unique strength component to the traditional 5k race. The Pump and Run is a bench press and 5k competition. 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