“And they say that they’re a family. That the whales are in their family. They have their pods but that’s just an artificial assemblage of their collection. However management decides they should mix them–whichever ones happen to be born or bought or brought in–that’s not a family.”
-Blackfish

"One day the absurdity of the most universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall have then discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them"
-Martin Luther King Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SszgIZOPfqo

Joel Manby, SeaWorld President and CEO, reasoned that the change was due to a shift in society, an that people have become uncomfortable with these animals being in human care.