San Diego

Orca Show is Over: SeaWorld San Diego Shuts Down Killer Whale Show

SeaWorld San Diego is ending its controversial and long-running killer whale show.

The show that featured orcas cavorting with trainers and leaping high out of a pool ends Sunday.

This summer, the park will unveil a new attraction in the pool. Orca Encounter is being billed as an educational experience that will show how killer whales eat, communicate and navigate.

The park has 11 orcas.

SeaWorld announced last year it was ending its theatrical orca shows and breeding program. Parks in Orlando and San Antonio will end their shows by 2019.

SeaWorld has seen attendance fall since the documentary ``Blackfish'' criticized conditions of captive orcas. The film featured Tilikum, an orca that killed a trainer during an Orlando show in 2010.

Tilikum, who'd been seriously ill, died Friday in Orlando.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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