SeaWorld opening first theme park without killer whales

The entrance to SeaWorld in Orlando.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

See ya, Shamu — when a new SeaWorld opens up in Abu Dhabi, it will be without the company's famous orcas.

The company, facing mounting criticism over keeping killer whales in captivity, previously announced it would no longer use the animals in their entertainment shows or mate them. The new SeaWorld is a licensing deal between the company and the Abu Dhabi-government-backed Miral Asset Management, with SeaWorld only lending its expertise on marine science and medicine and how to design and build the park, Bloomberg reports.

The theme park — SeaWorld's first outside the U.S. — is set to open in 2022 on the man-made Yas Island, already home to a water park and Ferrari World. Its focus will be on educating visitors about marine conservation, and will house the first facility in the United Arab Emirates dedicated to animal rescue and rehabilitation and research.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.