SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment Inc. announced Thursday March 17, that the company will end its killer whale breeding programs. According to nbcnews.com, the company stated that the 24 Orcas currently at their parks would be the last generation of Orcas they will keep in captivity.

This comes after the company faced backlash about their Orcas after the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish”, which stated that keeping the whales in captivity made them violent, and decreased their life span.

SeaWorld’s attendance started to decline at its three parks since the release of the movie, and the company’s stock price dropped by more than half in the past three years.

According to nbcnews.com, SeaWorld San Diego President John Reilly noticed that the public was gradually changing their attitudes towards the Orcas in captivity. This caused him to see that SeaWorld needed to make a change.

The 24 Orcas at Seaworld currently being held in California, Texas and Florida parks, will not be released into the wild like some wildlife organizations would hope. Releasing the animals after being under human supervision could potentially kill them, since they are unaccustomed to life in the wild.

SeaWorld was also having trouble with the authorities. California’s Coastal Commission last year approved a 100 million dollar expansion at SeaWorld’s San Diego Park of the Orca habitat, as long as the park agreed to end its breeding of the animals. SeaWorld went to court over the matter, arguing that the commission did not have the authority to ask the company to stop its breeding program.

“I feel like now that they are ending it’s breeding program the number of whales in the ocean may go down even more than they have,” junior Jonovan Sanchez said. “ The program was a way for everybody to learn about the whales and a good way to keep their numbers from falling.”

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives had proposed legislation to phase out

Orca activity before the company decided on its own to call it quits. With the loss of the company’s Orca program, SeaWorld has been adding new attractions like rollercoasters and has recently unveiled images of a new submarine ride they are planning in San Diego.

The park plans to introduce those new attractions to help beat out increasing competition in the tourism industry. Theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are increasing in popularity, and SeaWorld wants to maintain their market share.