As it faces controversy and calls for tougher industry regulation, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. has been trying to boost its political influence.
SeaWorld spent almost half a million dollars on federal lobbying from January to June — 68 percent more than in the same period last year, records show. SeaWorld has also started an aggressive lobbying effort in California, where a bill was briefly considered that would have banned killer-whale shows and breeding.
Orlando-based SeaWorld would not answer specific questions about its political spending.
“Recent increases in funding reflect our commitment to sharing the facts about SeaWorld,” the company said in a prepared statement.
Like most companies, it said, SeaWorld communicates with government officials on “a range of public policies” that could affect its business.
“I would think that in this case their increased political spending and lobbying are reactionary to the external environment,” said Sarah Bryner, research director with the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. “You see similar things happen all the time. Whenever there’s a high-profile, negative event, companies will respond by upping their political spending.”
SeaWorld has suffered declining attendance amid controversy over its killer whales in the wake of the 2013 anti-captivity documentary “Blackfish.” Calls for tighter restrictions on marine parks and aquariums have followed.
Last year, SeaWorld hired a D.C. lobbying firm called Van Scoyoc Associates, adding to two companies it already retained at the federal level. SeaWorld also has its own in-house lobbyists, including newly hired Jill Homer Stewart, who previously worked for Democratic lawmakers including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Last year, SeaWorld added Ellen Tauscher, a former Democratic congresswoman from California, to its board of directors. SeaWorld also started a political-action committee in 2011, while the Blackstone Group still owned it. SeaWorld, which became a separate company in 2013, spent $147,900 in last year’s elections and gave to Democrats and Republicans.
“I think SeaWorld can look into its crystal ball and see a lot of potential legislation regulating them heavily in the future,” University of South Carolina assistant hospitality professor Scott Smith said. “It would be an advisable strategy to start to develop some really thick friends.”
SeaWorld has weighed in on issues including amusement-park safety, visas, the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Feinstein and other federal lawmakers have pushed for speeding up publication of proposed changes to Animal Welfare Act regulations on marine mammals. The proposal has been mired in federal bureaucracy for more than three years now, to the frustration of animal-welfare advocates. The public cannot access it and see or comment on the potential updates. SeaWorld would not say whether it wants the updates published.
SeaWorld has opposed recent federal changes that now list captive chimpanzees as endangered, increasing protections available to them. The company has chimps at its Tampa Busch Gardens park. SeaWorld also opposed another recent decision to include Lolita, a killer whale at the Miami Seaquarium, in a group of orcas listed as endangered. Animal activists have hoped to use the listing to argue Lolita’s living conditions violate the federal endangered-species law.
SeaWorld’s D.C. lobbying spiked in 2010, the year an orca named Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in Orlando, and in 2011. It had tapered since then but has been on the upswing after “Blackfish,” which suggested stresses of captivity could have caused Tilikum to kill Brancheau.
In California, SeaWorld last year authorized a firm to begin lobbying the same day legislation banning orca shows and breeding was filed. The legislation, which would have affected SeaWorld’s San Diego park, was quickly shelved for further study. SeaWorld spent $140,000 on lobbying that year, records show. California secretary of state records do not show any major lobbying before that.
So far this year in California, SeaWorld has spent an additional $140,000, although the bills lobbied have nothing to do with marine mammals.
Records show SeaWorld last year began funneling more serious money into California politics: about $55,000, including $25,000 to Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign. Before 2014, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, SeaWorld and its national owners had not been big California campaign contributors, giving about $22,000 during several years to candidates from both parties.
SeaWorld says its California park has been the one affected by killer-whale controversy.
“They’re just kind of mustering their resources to the place they think is going to be the biggest fight,” Smith said.
California’s Coastal Commission is currently considering SeaWorld’s proposal to expand its killer-whale tanks, which animal-welfare advocates have opposed, saying the orcas should be released to sea pens instead. SeaWorld is also appealing fines issued by California’s occupational-safety division.
In Florida, no bills have been unveiled that would directly affect SeaWorld’s orca shows. Earlier this year, state Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, considered legislation that would have required the Miami Seaquarium to provide some sun protection and more unobstructed space for Lolita. He did not file it.
Lobbying in Florida is tougher to determine, because companies report only ranges of spending and don’t have to disclose issues.
SeaWorld’s donations to political candidates in Florida did not increase in the most recent full election cycle. SeaWorld donated $141,000 in the 2010 election cycle, records show. That rose to $204,000 for 2012 elections and lowered to $176,000 for 2014.
spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240
