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Washington Senator Plans To Reintroduce Orca, Dolphin Captivity Ban

File photo. SeaWorld announced that it will phase out orca shows at its San Diego theme park.
Robert Pittman
/
NOAA
File photo. SeaWorld announced that it will phase out orca shows at its San Diego theme park.

A Washington state senator says he will try again in January to convince his colleagues to ban marine mammal shows. That announcement Monday came as SeaWorld said it will end orca whale performances at its San Diego theme park next year.

Orca shows at other SeaWorld parks will continue. But Democratic state Senator Kevin Ranker cautiously welcomed the news about SeaWorld phasing out its orca shows in San Diego.

“I sure hope that we are pulling back from wanting to go see whales and other cetaceans in captivity and instead we come to places like the beautiful Puget Sound and see them in the wild where they’re in their splendor,” he said.

Ranker lives on Orcas Island. Earlier this year, he introduced legislation that would have made it illegal to hold orcas, dolphins or porpoises in captivity for entertainment purposes -- even though nobody’s doing that in Washington state right now. His proposal died after representatives of the marine mammal park industry flew in to oppose the measure.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Austin Jenkins
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."