PETA Supporters Install Haunting Orca ‘Graveyard’ Outside TUI Group’s Annual Meeting
This week, a sombre “graveyard” with 42 “headstones” – each memorialising an orca who died on SeaWorld’s watch – haunted TUI Group’s annual general meeting in Hanover, Germany.
An activist stood behind each “gravestone” while meeting attendees arrived. The action is part of efforts by PETA and our international affiliates to pressure the travel provider to stop selling tickets to SeaWorld.
A PETA representative also attended the meeting, spoke with shareholders and executives about the campaign, and asked TUI CEO Friedrich Joussen when the company will cut ties with cruel facilities which hold orcas captive.
What’s Wrong With SeaWorld?
While orcas in the wild form complex relationships, work cooperatively to find food, and traverse up to 140 miles of ocean every day, those at SeaWorld are housed in incompatible groups inside tiny tanks and have even been given the drug diazepam to manage stress-induced aggressive behaviour. Forty-two orcas and countless other animals have died on SeaWorld’s watch – far short of their natural life expectancies.
Last year, following intense pressure from PETA, travel giant Thomas Cook announced that it will stop selling tickets to all parks that confine orcas in the name of entertainment.
What You Can Do for Orcas Trapped in Captivity
If you haven’t already done so, please contact TUI and urge it to drop SeaWorld.
If you’re interested in taking part in future demonstrations for this campaign or others like it, please join our Action Team today.
