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Attendance, Revenue Strong at SeaWorld Despite Controversy

January 14th, 2014 | WMFE - SeaWorld announced record earnings this week for the last fiscal year- in spite of the controversial documentary Blackfish.

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Right down the street from SeaWorld, 47-year-old Eduardo Silva was popping into a pharmacy. Silva- who's visiting from Brazil- says he didn’t enjoy his trip to SeaWorld or the animal shows a few days ago because of his knowledge of Blackfish, a film about the death of a trainer in 2010.

“I was just thinking, ‘Are they happy?’ We really don’t know," says Silva.

In the fallout from Blackfish, some musicians cancelled performances at Seaworld Orlando.

Still, the controversy doesn't appear to have hurt the company's bottom line. SeaWorld is expecting its total revenue for 2013 to be $1.46 billion—a record-breaking amount for the group of nation-wide parks.

In a press release, SeaWorld president Jim Atchison said the company is "looking forward to another great year in 2014” as the park celebrates its 50th anniversary.

 

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