An unidentified trainer interacts with one of SeaWorld's seven killer whales during a show in San Diego. SeaWorld will end its orca shows at its San Diego park by 2017.

SAN DIEGO — Animal rights activists applauded SeaWorld’s plans to end its orca shows at its San Diego park but said the company should phase out its captivity of killer whales altogether.

SeaWorld Entertainment announced Monday it will end orca shows at its San Diego park after visitors at the tourist attraction made it clear they prefer seeing killer whales act naturally rather than doing tricks.

CEO Joel Manby told investors the park — where the iconic “Shamu” show featuring killer whales doing flips and other stunts debuted decades ago — will offer a different kind of orca experience focusing on the animal’s natural setting and behaviors, starting in 2017.

California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who plans to introduce federal legislation to end captive orca breeding, said ending the shows is a good first step but doesn’t go far enough.

“The fact still remains that as long as SeaWorld holds orcas in captivity, the physical and psychological problems associated with their captivity will persist,” he said.

The Orlando, Florida-based company has seen revenue drop since the 2013 documentary “Blackfish” that examined how orcas respond to captivity. It chronicles the case of Tilikum, a killer whale that caused the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010 by pulling her into a pool at SeaWorld Orlando.

Attendance has dropped the most at the San Diego location, and the decision to end orca shows will be limited for now to that park.

The shows will continue at the other two SeaWorld parks in San Antonio and Orlando.

The killer whale shows at the Shamu stadium in San Diego were the park’s main draw in the 1970s and helped build SeaWorld as a top tourist attraction. Trainers would ride the whales in the giant pool before getting out and signaling for the orca to slap its tail in the water to splash spectators in a “splash zone.”

After Brancheau’s death, trainers stopped going in the water during the shows, but they continue to swim with the killer whales while training them.

Manby told investors Monday that California customers want to see less theatrical production, so the new attraction will have a strong conservation message.

“They want the orca experience to be activities the whales do in the wild,” Manby said. “Things they perceive as tricks, they don’t like as well.”

However, that’s not “universal across our properties,” he added.

The news came days after SeaWorld Entertainment reported its third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations.