SeaWorld Ends Summertime Fireworks for Now

SeaWorld has announced its Mission Bay theme park will not shoot off fireworks this summer. Fireworks will still go off during 3-day holiday weekends and a few other special events. Plus, SeaWorld will not disclose whether nightly fireworks are gone for good, only that they are on “hiatus for the foreseeable future.”

The “official story” is that SeaWorld is preparing for its new “Electric Ocean”  a nighttime lighting display. In typical fashion, SeaWorld could not admit that maybe – in its effort to be more environmentally-sensitive – that the summertime tradition is halting due to public pressure. (For more of the official line, see SDU-T)

For years, San Diegans have signed petitions calling on SeaWorld to stop their summer explosions over the Bay.

From our July 2015 post,
Hit the link and sign the Petition that calls on the San Diego City Council to ban the nightly fireworks at SeaWorld.

From Petition:

SeaWorld is damaging the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans on a nightly basis,every day for 3 months straight during the summer season alone. They are damaging the overall physical well-being of the citizens of San Diego who live within a 20 mile radius or larger.

The fireworks at SeaWorld constitute animal cruelty. Dogs, cats, and other companion animals don’t understand that the terrifying loud bangs are a celebration. Humane societies across North America report that after firework displays they are swamped with calls about lost dogs and cats. Dogs are brought to shelters with paws bloody from running or torn skin from tearing through a backyard wooden fence or, worse, crippled from being hit by a car.

The need to protect both companion animals and nondomesticated animals from fireworks harm is exemplified in the numerous stories of animal suffering that we are left with after the smoke has cleared.

Dogs have responded to firework explosions by breaking through windows and screens, often running miles away from their homes, only to end up exhausted, bloody and confused or dead on the road

Exposure to hazardous noise is one of the most common causes of irreversible hearing loss. Symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss tend to be subtle in the earlier stages. Hearing loss tends to occur first for high-pitch sounds. As a result, the bass or “volume” of speech appears unchanged, but the clarity of speech decreases. The ability to communicate in the presence of background noise becomes increasingly difficult and can cause anxiety, stress and fatigue for the individual trying to understand speech.

Prolonged exposure to sounds exceeding 80 decibels (dB) can result in permanent hearing loss. The louder the noise, the less time an individual can be exposed before permanent damage will occur. Noise-induced hearing loss is preventable. Fireworks pose a significant and immediate risk to your family’s hearing health.

We are asking San Diego city council to ban the fireworks at SeaWorld and ask them to and switch to laser light shows, which provide all the awe of fireworks displays and are kinder to animals and the environment and show a courteous and decent neighborly behavior to the people of San Diego.

Fireworks are being blamed for the recent deaths of 5,000 birds in Arkansas. The professional-grade explosives scared red-winged blackbirds and European starlings out of their nests and sent them into panicked flight. The night-blind birds crashed into houses, signs, and other obstacles, causing blunt-force trauma and death.

What are the ravages of the fireworks locally? Has this been studied? What is happening to the animals, birds, fish and birds of the San Diego River and our bayfront!?

And now the park is using a different vendor this year, using a higher degree of firepower and they are louder and more dangerous to animals, your childrens and pet’s ears and to your family’s’ emotional well being!

1. Fireworks have been proven to be harmful to pets and wildlife.

The use of explosive fireworks near animals is considered cruel and inhumane as it causes stress and fear. Animals who are too close to explosions often suffer from burns and eye damage, among others.

2. Animal ears are very much more sensitive than the human ear.

Firework explosions can permanently damage their sense of hearing. Many animals are terrified of these noises so they try to break free, jump off fences to escape the terror.

3. Animals that flee from fireworks often get lost or killed.

Cats and dogs are prone to being hit by vehicles and birds are prone to fly into buildings and end-up breaking their necks.

4. Animals get injured.

There are dogs and other domesticated animals that are brought to shelters with paws and some body parts that are bloody from running or torn skin from tearing through a backyard wooden fence or, worse, crippled from being hit by a car.

5. Birds often fly away in fright.

And nesting mothers sometimes tend to get lost trying to return to their nests. Waterfowls such as herons, ducks, pelicans, and other sea birds become entangled in fragments of fireworks that land in ponds and waterways.

6. Fishes, sea turtles, and other marine animals ingest the firework debris and die.

And also cause the deaths of the scavenging animals that eat them.

7. Even insects are at risk.

Insects like bees and butterflies can become disoriented, injured, and killed.

Write to the city of San Diego City Council

I urge you to consider the harmful effects of fireworks on companion animals and on the wellbeing of the residents within a 2o mile radius

The fireworks that are scheduled every single evening at SeaWorld during the summer, 90 days in a row and every weekend during the off season have severe mental and physical effects on both wildlife and on pets and on some children.

Fireworks are NOT friendly to the community at large.

• Firework explosions can produce a blind panic in animals that can lead to serious injuries, deep-rooted and debilitating fears or even death;

• Using fireworks near animals is both cruel and inhumane as explosive fireworks cause animals immense confusion, anxiety, fear, and stress; and
• The ears of most animals are considerably more sensitive than the human ear and fireworks can permanently affect their acute sense of hearing.
• Fireworks and animals do not make a humane match. In this age of technology, we can create celebratory displays that are both thrilling and joyful without endangering our dogs and cats.
• A humane and 21st century solution is to replace the fireworks with a laser light show instead. This concept would be unique and attract even more patrons. It would be more conducive for the animals, the environment and the neighbors, who are taxpayers and voters as well.

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Here is Judi Curry’s view.