Stop SeaWorld’s Exploitation of Protected Wildlife
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Sponsor: Free The Ocean
An endangered manta ray was dragged from Florida’s waters for profit—legally—and unless we act now, more protected marine animals will suffer the same fate.

Near the shores of Panama City Beach, a giant manta ray thrashed against the pull of a net as a crew dragged her from the ocean. Tourists watched, horrified. The ray, protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, had not been accidentally caught. She was deliberately targeted, wrestled onto a boat, and shoved into a plastic tub1.
The company responsible—Dynasty Marine Associates—had a permit. That’s how this was legal. With a Marine Special Activity License, businesses can remove endangered species from the wild for “exhibition” and “education.”2 This license was used to send the manta ray to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, where she will live in confinement—if she survives at all3.
Protected Does Not Mean Safe
The giant manta ray is a pelagic animal, designed by evolution to roam vast open waters. In captivity, they suffer. Most do not live long. Yet Florida continues to grant permits that allow their removal. Even one sanctioned capture puts an entire species at risk, sending the message that federally protected wildlife can be taken for profit with the right paperwork4.
Manta rays are not props. They are intelligent, migratory animals essential to healthy marine ecosystems. Removing them from the ocean causes trauma, disrupts natural behavior, and weakens struggling populations5.
SeaWorld’s Legacy of Exploitation
This is not an isolated event. Dynasty Marine has captured at least one other manta ray for SeaWorld. The company’s history includes decades of orca and dolphin confinement, often under the same justification of “education.” But conservation does not look like confinement. It looks like thriving habitats, intact food chains, and wild animals left in the wild5.
The public no longer accepts the spectacle of suffering as education. The capture of this manta ray was filmed by a tour group who had just spent the morning swimming peacefully near dolphins. Their encounter turned into a lesson in cruelty6.
Demand a Full Ban
No permit should override federal protection. No license should allow an endangered animal to be ripped from the sea and shipped across the world for display. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission must act now to close this loophole and fully ban the capture of all species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
These animals belong to the ocean. Not to corporations. Not to tanks.
Add your name to demand a full ban on capturing endangered marine species in Florida waters.