SeaWorld Likened to Jurassic Park Where ‘Hybrid Orcas’ Are Created, Former Killer Whale Trainer Claims

SeaWorld recently denied claims that they created hybrid Jurassic World-style killer whales or orcas before the end of their mating program.

As specified in a Daily Star report, the denial comes after John Hargrove, a former orca trainer at the American theme park chain, alleged the famous attraction was "trying to produce more whales as tourist attractions.

Hargrove claimed orca subspecies that would never cross paths in the wild were forced to mate when SeaWorld still had a breeding program.

The former whale killer trainer, who worked at the chain of theme parks for two decades, is most known for his role in the "bombshell documentary Blackfish," which investigated fatalities caused by the captive orca Tilikum.

SeaWorld is Like the Jurassic Park

Hargrove compared the park to the Jurassic World film, which tells the hybrid dinosaurs' fictional story. The same report specified that the former trainer said that is exactly what they did at SeaWorld.

He added, that the main takeaway from creating a hybrid whale killer is that one truly has no idea what he has created because they do not exist in nature. Therefore, all things are possible.

Nonetheless, SeaWorld has strongly rebuffed the claims in a statement provided to the media. According to a spokesperson, there is nothing new to such claims.

"The wild characterizations from this former employee," who has not worked for the theme park chain in any capacity for a decade, the statement read, are designed to earn clicks rather than inform the public with science or facts.

Health and Conservation of Wild Orca Populations

The representative emphasized that SeaWorld is independently accredited, assessed, and certified by federal agencies and independent third-party experts to keep the highest standards of animal care.

Much of what's commonly known about orcas today is due to what has been learned through almost six decades of care and research of the killer whales in accredited zoological facilities like SeaWorld.

That knowledge and expertise continue to benefit directly from the insight into the wild orca populations' health and conservation. SeaWorld ended its killer whale breeding program in 2016.

Through the years, SeaWorld has been affected by a string of explosive claims and has experienced backlash from activists. Orca at the attraction, a similar Newsweek report said, took part in theatrical shows in 2007.

Hybrid Orcas Developed

In a media report, Hargrove claimed that whales that "would never meet naturally in the wild" were inseminated while others "were able to inbreed."

In Jurassic Park, scientists develop a hybrid dinosaur to feature the star attraction of a theme park, although the creature goes on a fatal rampage after it outsmarted its handlers.

Hargrove explained how orcas caught from the Argentinian were bred along with Icelandic killer waves when the two species would never cross paths beyond captivity.

The former orca trainer blamed SeaWorld's "irresponsible breeding" for its genetically developed whales that would never survive in the wild merely because they do not exist, as earlier mentioned.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Hargrove said, "SeaWorld is like Jurassic World," from which the film's entire premise is that they were creating hybrid dinosaurs, and that was what was exactly happening at the theme park chain.

A related report about SeaWorld's Ocra Breeding Program is shown on SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Whales in Science Times.