Posted October 04, 2019 13:50:24

Photo: Two dolphins perform at Sea World on the Gold Coast. (ABC News: Clarissa Thorpe)

Travel giant TripAdvisor will no longer sell tickets to Sea World on the Gold Coast as part of its worldwide ban to help end the captivity of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

The decision will affect any commercial facility that breeds or imports cetaceans for public display, building on a 2016 ban to attractions where travellers come into physical contact with captive, wild or endangered animals.

"Whales and dolphins do not thrive in limited captive environments, and we hope to see a future where they live as they should, free and in the wild," TripAdvisor Experiences and Rentals president Dermot Halpin said.

The decision caught Sea World off guard, with a spokesman saying there had been no consultation or due process.

Photo: An Orca Tilikum in captivity at Sea World Florida, which is not related to Sea World Gold Coast, killed three people. (Mathieu Belanger: Reuters)

Spokesman Bikash Randhawa said the "zoological facility" is regulated in Australia and laws are different compared to overseas operations.

"To use the same brush and to paint the entire industry with that brush I think is unfair," the Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer said.

"I think it is an announcement that was made in opinion rather than science and accurate information.

"To be clear, TripAdvisor has never been a sales platform for us so in terms of revenue it is minuscule so this is not about revenue for us, it is about getting the information out there on what we do."

Sea World does not hold any killer whales and has long rescued stricken whales, turtles and dolphins, and donates to animal conservation.

Photo: While other Sea Worlds around the globe hold killer whales in captivity, none are held on the Gold Coast. (AP: Phelan M Ebenhack)

"I would urge the CEO of Trip Advisor to come down to the Gold Coast to see the tremendous work we do with animals, the conservation work we do," Mr Randhawa said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) spokeswoman Emily Rice said the organisation had been in consultation with TripAdvisor since 2016.

She said the decision was about supporting more ethical tourism.

"Displaying animals in a habitat which is far from natural for them and using them in shows and for profit and to do tricks is very far removed from conservation," she said.

"Conservation is about protecting the environments and bettering the lives of animals in the wild, not keeping them in what is essentially the equivalent of a bathtub."

Topics: animal-welfare, tourism, lifestyle-and-leisure, travel-and-tourism, brisbane-4000, qld, southport-4215