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Norway ups whale kill numbers and removes whale welfare protections

The whaling season in Norway has begun on the back of disturbing announcements from the...
Image taken from an unmanned hexacopter at >100ft during a research collaboration between NOAA/SWFSC, SR3 and the Coastal Ocean Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Southern Resident orca petition to list them under Oregon Endangered Species Act advanced

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to advance a petition seeking to protect...
Hysazu Photography

WDC and Conservation Partners Continue to Seek Oregon Endangered Species Protection for Southern Resident Orcas

On Friday, April 21st, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will determine whether the petition...
WDC Seal Rescue April 2023 (1)

WDC conducts milestone seal rescue in Marshfield

For Immediate Release, April 10, 2023 MARSHFIELD, MA - A young grey seal was found...

SeaWorld criticised as social media campaign backfires

SeaWorld has come in for widespread criticism over its attempts to use social media as part of its new marketing strategy. Launched last week as part of a wider plan to help repair the damage done to its reputation by the documentary film Blackfish, and subsequent loss of visitors and revenue as people stayed away from its marine parks, the company came up with the Twitter hashtag #AskSeaWorld to generate questions that it could then answer on its website.

Not surprisingly, it has been widely used by opponents of captivity to criticise and ask SeaWorld more searching questions over its continued keeping of orcas in its parks, which unsurprisingly have gone unanswered. PR commentators have now slammed the company for being so naive in thinking the strategy might work. Previously, companies such as Mcdonalds have been on the receiving end after similar attempts to use social media in this way backfired. As Patrick Coffee, writing for Adweek, says “Can we all please lay the “social media hashtag Q&A for troubled clients” strategy to rest?!” while Alison Griswold from Slate asks in her article “Why Would Companies Ever Think a Campaign Like #AskSeaWorld Is a Good Idea?”

Further observations of the failing campaign have come from CNN Money, International Business Times and the Huffington Post amongst others. In the meantime, investors seem similarly unimpressed so far as the company’s share price slid once again last week.

What would you ask SeaWorld?

SeaWorld has invited the world to ask questions. If you use Twitter, please ask SeaWorld a legitimate question about keeping orcas in tanks for financial gain. We want them to face real, thoughtful enquiries. 

More about the fate of orcas in captivity