SeaWorld prepares to light up night sky this summer, but not with fireworks
Making good on its pledge to consider alternatives to nightly fireworks, SeaWorld San Diego announced Thursday that it will launch in May a new drone show for the spring and summer season that it’s calling Ocean of Dreams.
SeaWorld describes the new 12-minute immersive aerial display as one that will transport viewers to “a living ocean, taking them on a visually stunning journey beneath the waves.”
The nighttime drone display will start May 22 and run nightly through Aug. 9. After that, it will shift to a weekend-only schedule through Sept. 7, a schedule that coincides with SeaWorld's summer season.
The arrival of the drone shows marks what could eventually be a pivotal change in SeaWorld’s long history of nightly fireworks, which have become increasingly controversial as environmentalists worry about their effect on the environment and surrounding wildlife.
Just two weeks ago, the California Coastal Commission approved a coastal development permit sought by SeaWorld for a one-year pilot program that allows the San Diego theme park to conduct up to 110, 15-minute drone shows, each using as many as 1,000 illuminated autonomous aircraft. Under the permit, the aerial vehicles will be able to fly up to 660 feet in the sky, but the park also has the obligation of monitoring its first two shows and a portion of the rest to document noise impacts, light levels and bird strikes.
While SeaWorld has yet to make any commitment to permanently transition away from fireworks, the pilot program is seen by many as a hopeful sign of big changes to come.
SeaWorld Park President Tyler Carter told commissioners that it was not yet asking “for a permanent change” but was “asking for the opportunity to test, to evaluate and continue working in partnership."
Although SeaWorld has the option of doing more than 100 drone shows during this pilot period, it has officially contracted to put on 78 aerial displays, said SeaWorld San Diego spokesperson Tracy Spahr. The Fourth of July, she said, is the park’s only planned evening for fireworks during the summer season.
The soon-to-debut drone show, which will incorporate aerial formations and lighting effects, is meant to tell the story of marine life, highlighting underwater ecosystems. The aerial light displays will depict several familiar animals housed at SeaWorld, including sea otters, sharks, dolphins and an orca. The show will culminate in an electric neon finale.
"At SeaWorld, every story begins with the ocean - and this summer, we will be bringing that story to the sky in a way that inspires the next generation to protect it," Carter said. "We are excited to continue to innovate what nighttime, immersive entertainment experiences can be, and proud that our park is the first and only California attraction to offer a nightly drone show for guests and the overall San Diego community to enjoy."
The Ocean of Dreams drone show is part of the park’s annual Summer Spectacular offerings, which include a parade, stunt shows, fan-favorite characters, and the return of its summer concert series featuring hip-hop and R&B artists from the '90s and early 2000s on select Saturdays.
As SeaWorld contemplates a potential transition away from fireworks, it’s also close to settling a lawsuit from a year ago that was filed by two environmental groups that accused the park of illegally discharging pollutants into Mission Bay during its fireworks shows. The suit was filed by San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, or CERF.
Livia Borak Beaudin, legal director of CERF and attorney at Coast Law Group LLP, said Thursday that the parties are close to finalizing the settlement agreement.
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