SeaWorld admits workers posed as rights activists
Company says it will end practice.
Amusement-park operator SeaWorld admitted Thursday that employees have posed as animal-rights activists to spy on critics and that the company will end the practice.
The acknowledgment came after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals last year accused San Diego park worker Paul McComb of spying on the organization’s anti-SeaWorld protests. It also comes less than a week after SeaWorld announced a shake-up in its executive ranks.
SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby told analysts Thursday the company’s board has “directed management to end the practice in which certain employees pose as animal-rights activists.”
He said McComb had been transferred to another department and returned to work after a period of administrative leave.
“SeaWorld’s latest report confirms not only that the company has employed more than one spy to infiltrate and agitate at PETA but also that it values its spies more highly than the executives who have had their heads chopped off in droves, as at least one of the spies is still working at the company,” PETA said Thursday in a statement.
The announcement comes amid a tumultuous financial period for SeaWorld, which saw its stock plunge about 9.25% Thursday to $18.01 as the company struggles to rebrand itself in the wake of a 2013 documentary that damaged its reputation for how it treats marine life and trainers.
The company’s revenue was flat at $1.37 billion for the year, and net income fell 1.6% to $49.1 million. In the fourth quarter, revenue rose 1% to $267.9 million, compared with the fourth quarter of 2015, and the company lost $11 million, compared with a $25.4 million loss a year earlier.