Sam Smith defends SeaWorld visit

Singer Sam Smith has defended a visit to controversial theme park Seaworld after he faced a backlash from fans.

The Stay With Me hitmaker spent the day at SeaWorld during a New Year's break in Australia with his new boyfriend, Jonathan Zeizel, and he posted images on Instagram.com of him posing with a seal.

Some fans hastily voiced their "disappointment" at his support of the park over the 2013 release of hard-hitting documentary Blackfish, which details alleged cruelty in keeping marine mammals captive.

However, Smith is adamant Australia's SeaWorld is an entirely different company to SeaWorld in the U.S., the organisation targeted by Blackfish.

He responded to the criticism in a post on Twitter.com, writing, "Seaworld Australia and Seaworld America are two very different things. Please remember this guys x... There's no whales here."