Investing.com -- SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE:SEAS) continued a push to revamp its executive team with the hiring on Tuesday of Marc Swanson as the company's interim Chief Financial Officer.
Swanson, who has served as the company's Chief Accounting Officer since 2012, will replace James Heaney, who informed the company that he is returning to the cruise industry to accept a senior position with a different company.
"Marc has established his own role as a leader of our talented and capable team," CEO Joel Manby said in a statement. "He is a highly experienced finance professional who knows our company well and whose interim leadership assures continuity and stability across all of our finance functions."
Manby, himself, is fairly new to the company. In March, Sea World hired the former CEO of Herschend, the nation's largest family-owned theme park, as part of a comprehensive new marketing and reputation campaign. For five years in the late 1990s, Manby served as the CEO of SAAB Automobile USA.
SeaWorld has been reeling since the release of the 2013 film, Blackfish: Never Capture What You Can't Control, which documented the capture of Tilikum, an Orca that was taken off the coast of Iceland in 1983. During a 20-year period beginning in 1991, Tilikum was linked to the deaths of three humans, bringing his status as a captive whale into question. Shortly after the release, SeaWorld disputed the accuracy of the film.
In response, New York State Senator Greg Ball proposed legislation placing a ban on holding Orcas in captivity. In addition, a slew of celebrity performers, including: Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Barenaked Ladies and Heart canceled performances at SeaWorld properties in Florida due to the controversy.
Last November, SeaWorld announced that attendance had fallen more than 5% from the previous year and profits had declined by 30% during the quarter on a year-over-year basis. A month later, the company announced that former CEO Jim Atchinson would resign from his position effective in January of this year. By the end of 2014, the company's stock dipped by nearly 45%.
In the first quarter, SeaWorld reported that its attendance increased to 3.2 million, up from 3.0 million during the same period in 2014. The company also said it returned $36.3 million to its shareholders through dividend declarations.
Shares in SeaWorld fell 0.27 or 1.24% on Tuesday to 21.43. SeaWorld shares are still up more than 14% since early-March.