Situation Analysis

Issues with employee safety and the treatment of animals have long plagued SeaWorld. In February of 2010, these problems came to the forefront of public consciousness. Senior trainer Dawn Brancheau died during a show after the orca she was working with, Tilikum, dragged her underwater. SeaWorld      denied responsibility for Brancheau’s death and claimed it was a freak accident, resuming live orca shows just three days after her death. Depending on one’s perspective, this crisis could be intentional or unintentional. SeaWorld claimed the latter; spokespeople stated it was a freak accident that no one could have seen coming. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the documentary crew behind “Blackfish” claimed otherwise. According to their allegations, Brancheau’s death was a result of poor risk management by SeaWorld.

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These organizations levied many challenges against SeaWorld. 2010 saw a condemning investigation by OSHA, and in 2011, PETA took the company to court on behalf of Tilikum. In 2013, the crisis spiraled out of hand with the release of the controversial documentary “Blackfish.” The film accused SeaWorld of unethical treatment of animals and claimed that orcas were severely harmed in captivity. The theme park denied these claims and eventually responded with a massive campaign, SeaWorld Cares, as an attempt to repair their reputation. By late 2016, they also made a commitment to stop breeding orcas and phase out orca performances. While this response addressed widespread concerns, it perhaps came too late. Park attendance and franchise profits declined.

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Risks and Key Figures

The key crisis in the midst of many was the death of Dawn Brancheau. This immediate crisis gave rise to the sustained crises brought up by “Blackfish” and online backlash. The company faced the major risk of a loss of reputation. As a result of this, they risked a decrease in park attendance, which would further risk a severe loss of revenue. Shareholders and employees –two important stakeholders – were also at risk. The former faced profit loss, and the latter, reduced hours, pay and even employment itself. Other stakeholders included business owners in Orlando, Florida. A decrease in SeaWorld tourism could in turn result in decreased business. The publics were wide and varied. One key public was employees. While they also had a stake in the crisis, they needed to be assured that they were not being put in danger by working at SeaWorld. Another key public was SeaWorld patrons, especially those who had been in the park on the day of the incident. After the release of “Blackfish,” the very general public, in the common sense of the word, became a key public. SeaWorld had to communicate to a wide range of people who had watched the documentary or simply heard about it.

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A Tragic Focusing Event

The focusing event of SeaWorld’s massive crisis was the death of Dawn Brancheau. This tragedy satisfies each of the requirements of Focusing Event Theory:

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• Sudden: One moment Brancheau was performing her show as usual, the next she was dragged underwater. It happened so quickly, witnesses dispute whether the orca pulled her by her arm or ponytail.

• Rare: Trainers have been killed by orcas before, but it does not happen often.

• Attention-Grabbing: Brancheau’s death made international news and lingered there until well into 2017. Suits were levied, and a documentary was made about it. Backlash on social media was widespread.

• Policy-Focused: Policymakers, both internally and externally, investigated responsibility and strategized how to prevent another tragedy from occurring. Many in the general public were horrified, and key publics like employees and customers wanted answers and policy changes.

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Crisis Response Strategy: Image Repair

SeaWorld generally adapted the crisis response strategy of Image Repair Theory. Their management and communication steps match the major strategies of this theory:

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• Evasion of Responsibility: SeaWorld claimed Brancheau’s death was a freak accident and that they played no role in it. When OSHA raised allegations, they appealed them.

• Denial: The organization repeatedly denied every claim made in “Blackfish,” even launching a website to specifically reject any concerns.

• Reducing Offensiveness: This was the precise goal of the SeaWorld Cares campaign. Ads featured cute, innocent videos of other animals at the parks, happy customers and eager trainers. Without taking responsibility, they wanted to become less offensive to the public.

• Corrective Action: By announcing the end of orca breeding and performance in 2016, SeaWorld effectively fixed the major cause of the crisis without ever accepting blame.

• Mortification: As of now, SeaWorld has not officially taken responsibility for the death of Brancheau or the trauma faced by captive orcas. It will come as a surprise if they ever do.

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Crisis Response Failures

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• Avoiding Any Blame
  In the wake of the crisis, OSHA opened an investigation into SeaWorld’s practices and policies. They found the company failed to protect trainers adequately and fined them $75,000. Instead of accepting some fault and the proportionally small fine, SeaWorld challenged OSHA’s findings. The battle stretched out over years, and eventually SeaWorld lost anyway. Though their strategy here kept in line with their intention to evade responsibility, all it did was further soil their reputation. SeaWorld could not even admit partial fault in the death of their own employee, nor would they agree to make the changes OSHA suggested. It cemented that, as a company, SeaWorld cared more for its reputation than either its animals or employees.

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• Moving On
  SeaWorld resumed orca shows 3 days after Brancheau’s death. This could have been helpful, as it did emphasize that the incident was a fluke, trainers were safe and whales were happy. However, deciding to continue operations as if nothing had happened reflected poorly on the organization. It showed that SeaWorld prioritized its business over the safety and respect of its employees. To resume shows not even a week after an employee had been killed in the very same tank lacked empathy. SeaWorld’s attempt to move on from the crisis and stifle attempts to blame them for even a small part of the incident further emphasized this lack of care.

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Crisis Response Goals

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• Respond Quickly
  SeaWorld should have prioritized making real changes as quickly as possible. By avoiding making any changes to their program or accepting responsibility for years, SeaWorld extended its infamy. They made slight adjustments after Brancheau’s death, such as requiring trainers with long hair to style it in buns instead of ponytails, but failed to enact any real changes until five years after the focusing event. Of course, with such a large organization, making such big changes would have been difficult. However, when they finally announced an end to orca shows in 2016, it was not immediate; they would be phased out by 2019. They should have addressed the real problems at hand – orca captivity and occupational hazards – as quickly as possible. Had they announced they would be phasing out orca shows by 2019 in 2011, they could have saved some of their reputation and actually addressed the issues.

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• Listen to Stakeholders
  SeaWorld executives did not listen to stakeholders for years after the incident. Many employees participated in the “Blackfish” documentary, leveraging accusations against the organization. Attendance dwindled for years. Had they listened more closely to stakeholders who were not also shareholders, they might have been able to make more effective changes and prevent revenue and reputation from declining as much as they did.

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Communication Objectives

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• Empathy for Victims
  They needed to express sincere empathy for the trainer that died and for their animal performers. While spokespeople apologized and expressed sympathy to the family and friends of Brancheau, SeaWorld failed to express sympathy beyond regret that their trainer died. It’s difficult to believe that an organization is truly empathetic when they completely evade responsibility for harm done to an employee at work.
  
  Additionally, SeaWorld failed to be empathetic to its animal performers upon the release of “Blackfish.” They denied all claims the documentary made. A more measured and empathetic response might have been to assert that they had no reason to suspect the whales were unhappy, but would be investigating these claims with animal wellbeing experts.

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• Organizational Credibility
  SeaWorld should have had a goal of being as transparent as possible. They failed to acknowledge Tilikum’s past involvement in the death of people. They repeatedly claimed a complete lack of fault, despite an extremely critical OSHA report. As a result, when “Blackfish” premiered, people tended not to trust SeaWorld’s response. Why would they be telling the truth about “Blackfish” when they had blatantly covered things up so often before? They lost all credibility. Even their expensive SeaWorld Cares campaign could not salvage ticket sales or reputation.

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Key Messages

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• Accident, Not Attack
  “We have every reason to believe the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau was not a malicious attack. The orcas were playing, as they tend to do, and we think Tilikum thought her long ponytail was a toy. We do not think he intended to harm Ms. Brancheau, and we are sure Tilikum would feel terribly if he could understand what has happened. All our safety policies were followed, so we believe it was a terrible accident. We could not have predicted this, much as we wish we could have.”

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• Preventing Further Harm
  “While this horrific loss was unforeseeable, we know that hindsight is 20/20. We will investigate the incident thoroughly to ensure that it was an accident, as we suspect. If we identify any safety issues we had not previously been aware of, we will address them immediately. We are still shocked and saddened that this transpired in our park. It is our sincere hope that no other trainer is ever harmed in our facilities again.”

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Leadership Lessons

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• Listen to Each Other
  Leaders should listen to stakeholders and other leaders and take care not to directly contradict them inappropriately. The CEO of SeaWorld’s largest shareholder blamed Brancheau’s death on rule violations. However, SeaWorld officials had previously asserted that no rules were broken, and it was a freak accident. All people speaking for an organization must be on the same page to ensure credibility is maintained.

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• Don’t Deny Responsibility
  Leaders should prioritize empathetic responses over financial gain when they are at fault. Denying responsibility may seem appealing in the short-term, but in the long-term it will only serve to strip an organization of credibility and good reputation. Leaders must be as open and transparent as possible. They don’t have to take all the blame, but if the organization is at all at fault, it would serve them well to be honest about that.

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References

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Garcia, J. (2014, January 24). Blackstone chief blames Brancheau for own death, contradicting Seaworld. Orlando Sentinel. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-blackstone-chief-blames-brancheau-for-own-death-contradicting-seaworld-20140124-post.html

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Howard, B. B. (2017, January 6). Why Tilikum, SeaWorld’s killer orca, was infamous. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/01/tilikum-seaworld-orca-killer-whale-dies/#close

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Mears, B. & Cohen, T. (2011, October 26). PETA lawsuit alleges SeaWorld enslaves killer whales.

CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/justice/killer-whale-lawsuit/index.html

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Titlow, J. P. (2015, August 4). SeaWorld is spending $10 million to make you forget about “Blackfish.” Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/3046342/seaworld-is-spending-10-million-to-make-you-forget-about-blackfish

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Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2019). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.

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Zimmerman, T. (October 4, 2011). “The Killer in the Pool”. In Mary Roach; Tim Folger (eds.). The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011: The Best American Series. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.