PETA activists to protest SeaWorld's 60th anniversary in San Antonio this weekend

The pod of animal rights activists accuses SeaWorld of causing the premature deaths of dolphins and orcas.

click to enlarge A group of PETA supporters rally against SeaWorld's alleged mistreatment of aquatic mammals. - Courtesy of PETA
Courtesy of PETA
A group of PETA supporters rally against SeaWorld's alleged mistreatment of aquatic mammals.
As SeaWorld prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary this weekend at its San Antonio park, a group of animal rights activists is ready to provide counter-programming highlighting what it calls "60 years of misery" the amusement company created for aquatic mammals.

A pod of PETA supporters plans to protest outside the gates of SeaWorld San Antonio starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, accusing the park of abuse against dolphins and orcas.

SeaWorld San Antonio officials were unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.

PETA maintains in a press release that more than 40 orcas and 500 other aquatic mammals, including dolphins, have died prematurely in SeaWorld's tanks. PETA also accuses SeaWorld of allowing dolphins to be sexually abused during its breeding programs.

"Sixty years of imprisoning dolphins, orcas, and other marine mammals in cramped concrete tanks and depriving them of everything that's natural and important to them is a cause for shame, not celebration," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. "PETA urges everyone to shun this exploitative hellhole until it finally releases these long-suffering animals to seaside sanctuaries."

One dolphin that allegedly died prematurely at SeaWorld San Antonio was Helen, a disabled cetacean who passed away in 2022, less than a year after being moved to the Alamo City. Helen was only 33 years old at the time of her death, even though the average lifespan of white-sided dolphins is 40.

SeaWorld San Antonio said at the time that they would conduct an autopsy. However, the results of that autopsy have yet to be publicly released.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

KEEP SA CURRENT!

Since 1986, the SA Current has served as the free, independent voice of San Antonio, and we want to keep it that way.

Becoming an SA Current Supporter for as little as $5 a month allows us to continue offering readers access to our coverage of local news, food, nightlife, events, and culture with no paywalls.

Join today to keep San Antonio Current.

Scroll to read more San Antonio News articles

Michael Karlis

Michael Karlis is a Staff Writer at the San Antonio Current. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., whose work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Orlando Weekly, NewsBreak, 420 Magazine and Mexico Travel Today. He reports primarily on breaking news, politics...

Join SA Current Newsletters

Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox.