With SeaWorld currently under fire for keeping orcas in captivity, a new study has suggested that life expectancy among captive whales is the same as those born at the lagging visitor attraction.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the Journal of Mammalogy by the Oxford University Press, found no significant difference in life expectancy between killer whales born at SeaWorld and those born in the wild.

The study – Comparisons of life-history parameters between free-ranging and captive killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations for application toward species management – compared published data for the survival rates and reproduction activity of tagged orcas in the Pacific Northwest with those in Seaworld’s care. The study found that the average life expectancy for a SeaWorld killer whale was 41.6 years, while the average life for wild orcas was 42.3 years.

The study also noted that average calf survival rate from approximately six months of age in the wild was significantly lower at 79.9 per cent than at SeaWorld, which has a 96.6 per cent survival rate in young orcas.

SeaWorld has been trying to reel in lost visitors after a disastrous 2014 saw attendances and revenues decline, and former CEO Jim Atchison as replaced by Joel Manby.

The anti-SeaWorld documentary Blackfish has been the root of the majority of the visitor attraction’s problems, which include proposed legislation banning Orca shows in California, tumbling share value and loss of corporate sponsors. SeaWorld has seen a lot of negative press in regards to the treatment of its animals, but this new study will quash accusations that the park’s animals in captivity are living shorter lives. SeaWorld is also doubling the size of its orca habitats so that its whales have more space, a move which is costing hundreds of millions of dollars.