Seaworld Orcas In Abu Dhabi? New Theme Park To Open Without Killer Whales In 2022

The first SeaWorld park will open in Abu Dhabi in 2022. However, the new aquatic theme park will reportedly open without its signature animal, orcas. The decision to open up a park along the Arabian Peninsula without orcas comes just months after SeaWorld Park & Entertainment ended its orca-breeding program in March.

Joel Manby, SeaWorld CEO, told the Associated Press Monday the new park, which will be the first to operate outside of the U.S., will be the company’s first big move away from orcas, the longtime SeaWorld icon and the star of the park’s most popular show. Instead, theAbu Dhabi location will mostly focus ocean conservation education and will include an animal research, rescue and rehabilitation center, which Manby said will open up before the actual amusement park.

Opening an Abu Dhabi park without the presence of orcas comes after the 2013 release of the controversial documentary, “Blackfish,” which highlighted the life of an orca that killed a SeaWorld trainer back in 2010.

“This gives us a chance to position the new SeaWorld in a very strong way, repositioning it from a company that’s only about certain species to a company that is focused on ocean health,” Manby said.

The park will also feature thrill rides and aquariums along with 3-D mapping and virtual reality experiences that will allow visitors to take virtual expeditions or deep sea dives, said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of SeaWorld’s Abu Dhabi partnering company, Miral Asset Management.

The theme park will be located in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, a popular man-made island near the southeast tip of the Arabian Peninsula. SeaWorld execs and Miral Asset Management have been in talks regarding the project since 2011. Currently, the island already draws in tourism for the United Arab Emirate’s Formula 1 track and the Ferrari World theme park. Earlier in the year, Miral Asset Management worked out a deal to develop a Warner Bros. park on Yas Island as well. The surplus of amusement parks comes as the U.A.E. gears up to host the World Expo in 2020.

Although the SeaWorld Abu Dhabi location is expected to bring in a massive amount of visitors, the park recently was forced into a hefty round of layoffs, cutting about 320 jobs in all 12 of its currently operating parks across the U.S including SeaWorlds in San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando, along with Sesame Place in Pennsylvania and Busch Gardens in Florida and Virginia. The company said cutting the jobs would save SeaWorld roughly $65 million after the company reported a 7.6 percent decline in attendance during the first half of 2016.