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PETA sailed a 49-foot yacht past the Bayside Amphitheater stage during Ashanti‘s SeaWorld San Diego show with a ‘SeaWorld Kills’ banner draped across its side.
The amphitheater sits right on Mission Bay, which gave PETA’s boat a clear shot at the crowd without anyone setting foot inside the park.
PETA supporters had already lined up outside the park hours earlier, holding signs urging fans to skip the show with signs like “Ashanti: No Dolphin is Happy in a Tank,” and “Ashanti: It’s Foolish to Support SeaWorld.”
SeaWorld booked @Ashanti so we booked a boat!
While fans watched the stage…
1️⃣Dolphins remained trapped in concrete tanks.
2️⃣These animals languished with nothing to do.
3️⃣SeaWorld kept profiting from their suffering. pic.twitter.com/JAuTIdFqTg— PETA (@peta) July 19, 2026
Despite this, hundreds of people turned out to watch Ashanti’s performance, which proceeded without issue other than the PETA disruption.
The group has fought SeaWorld over its treatment of dolphins and orcas for years, and Saturday’s stunt kept that fight in front of a packed crowd.
PETA President Tracy Reiman said dolphins and whales at SeaWorld spend their lives in concrete tanks that don’t come close to matching their natural habitat. She wants the park to stop breeding dolphins and whales entirely and instead move the ones it already holds to seaside sanctuaries.
This made me so genuinely happy! I love Ashanti 🥹 https://t.co/T7iGTKWH9S
— RIOT (@infamousRIOT) July 19, 2026
SeaWorld San Diego already ended its orca-breeding program back in 2016 under similar pressure.
PETA’s now aiming that same push at the dolphins and other whales still living in the park’s tanks. The group has held on to that same demand for years, with little movement from the company.
A 2023 Change.org petition had already pushed fans to boycott Ashanti, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy over their SeaWorld bookings, long before Saturday’s protest. None of them backed out, and all three ended up back on this year’s bill anyway.
SeaWorld’s leaning on its 90s and 2000s roster to pull crowds back this summer, according to FOX 5 San Diego. Ashanti’s one of 16 acts on the bill this year. Soulja Boy, Paul Wall, Jordin Sparks and Too $hort are all still set to play through the end of August.
