By Staff / OB Rag

Animal rights activists from throughout Southern California will gather in San Diego this weekend in a kick-off for a world-wide campaign called “Empty the Tanks” with demonstrations against SeaWorld.

The main demonstration is on Saturday, June 6th outside SeaWorld from 10am to 1pm, at the intersection of SeaWorld Drive and SeaWorld Way. The goal is to advocate for marine mammals held captive worldwide for entertainment and profit.

One of the orcas at the center of this campaign is Corky, a female who has been at SeaWorld for 25 years and another 20 years at the former Marineland of the Pacific. Corky is said to be “the hardest working female in show biz,” as she has generated billions in revenues to her captors. Corky, after being taken from her family in the Salish Sea off the coast of British Columbia in December 1969 was forced to entertain for the profit of entertainment corporations ever since.

Activists are providing the backdrop for the weekend’s events with the “Corky Freedom Banner” – an historic folk art installation, over 1.5 linear miles long, assembled in the 1990-2000s of handmade fabric panels submitted from throughout the world calling for Corky’s freedom.

A press statement from local activists stated:

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and its landlord in San Diego, Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the City Council, can begin to reverse the decline of this business by joining our National Aquarium in developing sea pen sanctuaries to which captive, performing whales and dolphins can be retired, starting with the longest-held orca in captivity, Corky at SeaWorld San Diego.

Dr. Paul Spong of OrcaLab has advocated for Corky’s return to her native British Columbia waters for more than two decades. In this video, he shows us two sites that are ideal for an ocean sanctuary for Corky.

Other parts of the local campaign include:

• an Overpass Light Brigade – at Clairemont Drive I-5 Overpass (at W. Mission Bay Dr.) Friday, June 5, 7:15-8:30pm.
• Open House for the historic folk art CORKY FREEDOM BANNER – Saturday, June 6, 1:30-3:30p @ the Grassroots Oasis, 3130 Moore Street, 2 miles from the Demo. Plenty of free street parking, and just blocks from Old Town Transit Center.
• CONCERT FOR CORKY, the longest-held orca in captivity (45 years), at SeaWorld San Diego for the last 25 years. $10 Donation – SUNDAY, June 7, 3-7p @ the Grassroots Oasis, Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar, Chris Clarke and Plow, Kiyoshi Shelton, and SD Women’s Drum Circle
  More Info: www.facebook.com/grassrootsoasis

DEMONSTRATION outside SeaWorld San Diego: Saturday, June 6 – 10a – 1p @ the intersection of SeaWorld Drive and SeaWorld Way, between the I-5 and SeaWorld entrance. Park at South Shores Boat Launch Park, off SeaWorld Drive just west of I-5.