SeaWorld San Diego was forced to shut down Friday afternoon following a power outage that affected a portion of the Mission Bay park.
The outage started at noon, and San Diego Gas & Electric confirmed Friday afternoon that the cause of the power failure was related to equipment within the SeaWorld property and was not caused by a malfunction of electricity delivery by the utility.
Nevertheless, SDG&E was working closely with SeaWorld to help restore power, said company spokesman Humberto Gurmilan.
“Our team is coordinating closely with them, and we are supporting the restoration of power,” Gurmilan said.
In a statement provided by SeaWorld, it said the park would be closed for the remainder of the day.
“We are working closely with SDG&E to restore power as quickly as possible. All animal care and life support systems remain fully operational,” the statement said. “The safety and well-being of our guests, ambassadors and animals remain our highest priority.”
Gurmilan said it’s estimated that power could be restored to the park by 10 p.m. Friday.
SDG&E became aware of the power issue after the San Diego Fire Department responded to reports that there was smoke seen coming from a building on the far west side of the SeaWorld property, although not within the park itself, said Candace Hadley, spokesperson for the San Diego Fire Department.
“Our crews found no active flames and found that the smoke was coming from some electrical boxes,” Hadley said. “They called in SDG&E, which responded and SeaWorld staff was there as well. Our crews did stick around for a while out of an abundance of caution.”
SeaWorld spokesperson Tracy Spahr said any guests who purchased tickets for Friday will be offered an any-day ticket to use for a future visit or they can opt for a refund.