The death of tilikum and 10 more of seaworld's biggest scandals

TILIKUM PASSES AWAY On Friday, Jan. 6, Tilikum, a 36-year-old orca who had lived at SeaWorld for 25 years, died in captivity. The whale was an infamous figure at the park. In 2010, he killed

trainer Dawn Brancheau by dragging her to the bottom of his pool in front of guests after a dinner show. This death along with two other incidents involving Tilikum were the focus of the

2013 documentary _Blackfish_. The film argued that keeping orcas captive is unhealthy for the animal psychologically and physically, and featured several former SeaWorld trainers talking

about their experience. For animal advocates, Tilikum is a symbol of the worst that can happen when you force an animal into unnatural conditions. The response to _Blackfish_ and

Tilikum's story led to some major changes at the park, including the phasing out of their orca shows. BELUGA DEATHS SeaWorld made news for a negative reason _again_ when a 2-year-old

beluga at its San Antonio park passed away unexpectedly. This was the second beluga whale born into captivity to die at the park in 2015. Sixty percent of the beluga whales born in captivity

don't make it to adulthood, and those that do often don't live to 30. These are startling numbers to animal lovers, since belugas are known to live up to 60 years in the wild.

SEAWORLD PLANS TO END ORCA SHOWS In a move that many animal rights groups took as an admission of guilt, SeaWorld recently announced plans to phase out its famous orca shows from the San

Diego park by 2017. The CEO said customer feedback was the main reason for the switch and that the company is now focused on providing killer whale experiences that are more in line with the

animal's natural behaviors. TWITTER FAIL In March 2015, SeaWorld decided to engage with its thousands of Twitter followers by prompting them to submit questions to the company through

the social network with the hashtag #AskSeaWorld. Instead of getting friendly questions about its collection of animals, the account was bombarded with accusations of animal cruelty. “Why do

you provide more area for us to park our cars than you give these animals to live?” and “Why are your Orca's teeth in such terrible condition?” are just two of the tough questions

thrown its way. FORMER TRAINER SPEAKS OUT Public relations at SeaWorld has had its fins full ever since the documentary _Blackfish _was released in 2013. Criticism of the chain's

practices got stronger after the March 2015 release of _Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish_, a book by former SeaWorld trainer John Hargrove. The

tome details Hargrove's 14-year career at SeaWorld, including his take on the devastating consequences captivity had on the animals in his care. SPYING ALLEGATIONS For a company that

stands by its ways, SeaWorld started to look rather suspicious in July 2015 when reports of it using a spy started to surface. According to The Dodo, SeaWorld allegedly had one of its Human

Resources employees infiltrate groups protesting the chain's practices, like PETA, with a fake name and false personal information. This spy then reportedly tried to incite the animal

rights groups to act aggressively and illegally in future protests. DOLPHIN DEATHS Two bottlenose dolphins living at SeaWorld parks died in 2015, both at SeaWorld Orlando. The first was a

22-year-old male in March, who aburuptly died without showing any signs of illness. An 8-year-old dolphin followed, dying mysteriously in June. The cause of the young animal's death was

listed as probable pneumonia, reports _The Orlando Sentinel._ BYE BYE BARBIE SeaWorld lost a lot of advertorial support following _Blackfish_, and in 2015 Barbie even bailed. Mattel

announced it was discontinuing SeaWorld Trainer Barbie. While the product may still appear on shelves, the company has opted not to produce anymore due to “a number of factors,” reported NBC

News. STEVE-O'S STUNT _Jackass_ star Steve-O put SeaWorld back in the headlines after he climbed a 100-foot crane and inflated a toy killer whale that read “SeaWorld Sucks” at the top.

The stunt led to a 30-day jail sentence for Steve-O, which he happily accepted. "Considering I've become a clean and sober, dog-rescuing vegan, I must say I'm ready to go to

jail – not just because it will bring so much attention to the plight of orcas in captivity, but because it's nice to let people know I haven't lost my edge," he wrote in an

Instagram post announcing his sentence. BABY BELUGA DIES AT BIRTH A baby beluga born into captivity at SeaWorld Orlando died of unknown causes just moments after it was born to 17-year-old

mom Whisper. The theme park announced the death of the calf on July 7, 2017, stating in a press release that the beluga was born earlier in the week and was “unusually weak.” “Unfortunately

the unusually weak calf surfaced only briefly before sinking to the bottom of the pool. The animal care and veterinary teams reacted quickly and were able to reach the calf and begin

emergency care. Despite their best efforts and expertise, we are saddened to confirm that the calf did not survive,” the Florida park said in a statement. SeaWorld Orlando, which was eagerly

awaiting the new arrival, is unsure what caused the sudden and shocking death, especially since Whisper had a full and healthy pregnancy. SeaWorld plans to perform a full post-mortem

examination to hopefully get some insight into what caused the calf to perish so quickly. Read more: