Southwest Airlines, bowing to pressure from animal rights activists, will repaint the three 737 jets that were painted to look like Shamu, the whale from Sea World. Southwest is terminating its 25-year relationship with Sea World as a result of being hounded by the animal rights groups.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Sea World and Southwest Airlines did not acknowledge the trigger for the move, a petition on Change.org that gathered more than 30,000 signatures calling for Southwest to terminate the relationship. That petition arose after the release in 2013 of the documentary Blackfish, which stated that orcas at Sea World are suffering.
Sea World has seen a slight decline in attendance, but said that the decline is not due to the documentary, especially since Sea World had the biggest year ever last year in revenue.
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