The “Blackfish effect”
In the passage, “After SeaWorld, a ‘Blackfish effects’ on circuses and zoos?,” Kelly Wallace explains and gives quotes about the ongoing debate of how aquariums, circuses, and zoos should be handled. Described as the “Blackfish effect” by Lange, many countries including Spain, Mexico, and the United States have already banned such things as bullfighting, animal circuses, and the tool called bullhook. The documentary, “Blackfish effect,” based on the “death of experienced SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau after she was pulled underwater by a 12,000-pound orca,” completely wiped out the public's opinion about how it was fair to kill and exploit animals for entertainment. SeaWorld had became “financially prudent” because their reputation was flushed down the drain after the
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SeaWorld, circuses, and other facilities that force animal behavior for entertainment are cruel and should not be allowed to continue their businesses. Tricia Kenney’s opinion that “...zoos and aquariums, for the most part, try to recreate a natural environment for the animals and, more importantly, don't disrespect them by having them perform all day long and do things that are completely unnatural for them,” is the exact answer to the question that asks why parents believe zoos/ aquariums are acceptable, while circus and places like SeaWorld are not. Caging any animal into a room with 4 tight walls is incredibly small compared to their natural habitat. Like Pilar Clark said, “places where animals are made to perform for enjoyment of humans,” should be a place where parents don’t take their kids. In conclusion, zoos that treat animals with respect and comfort are acceptable, but animal theme parks/circuses that use animals for show should not be supported, even if they have educational
Among the many things that individuals enjoy doing with their families, visiting amusement parks is at the top of the list. Sea World is a multi-billion dollar chain of marine animal parks, aquariums, and animal theme parks. (Wikipedia) When people are watching the rehearsed performances that the animals and the trainers do, the animals and the trainers seem to be happy. Witnessing the interaction between the animals and the trainers can remind individuals of the beauty of nature and it serves as entertainment.
The captivity of large, wild animals is accepted for theme parks all around the world. Tickets are sold for people to come and watch these animals live and even preform in an exhibit that almost resembles their natural environment. It is impossible for parks and zoos that use animals as attractions to provide the same resources and space they would have in the habitat they are usually found in. They can, however, help injured or ill animals that cannot survive in the wild. This is where I believe they should draw the line for keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years, especially since the Netflix documentary, Blackfish, was released. This film targets the company for the mistreatment of their orca whales. In particular, it told the story of one named Tilikum and shows the problems he and the other orca whales face while living under the care of SeaWorld. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director
Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
Blackfish: The Documentary Entertainment is a word that invokes feelings of fun and pleasure. It is an exciting time with family and friends filled with joy and laughter, especially at amusement parks. However, what about the whales entrapped at water parks? How do they feel about this? Are they content with their environment?
The trainers, along with Cowperthwaite, believe having them in a captivity like SeaWorld is inhumane. I agree with this documentary, Blackfish. This documentary gave a perfect visual representation of why I do not like having animals in a cage or in a small area. Having animals captive, working hard, and hardly fed is wrong, especially when only allowing them in a small area to roam. Watching this documentary made me feel sympathy towards these poor animals that must go through this harsh life style.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary attempting to elevate public awareness regarding the orca that are being kept in maritime amusement parks, specifically SeaWorld, and the inherent danger of their captivity. The film is effective because it raises a set of important ethical questions for the viewer while presenting with a necessary fact-based style of documentation that does not evoke gratuitous scenes of abuse in order to inspire sympathy, unlike some of the other films that are intended to raise awareness about animal abuse.
"Blackfish" might not make an airtight case against training wild animals for our enjoyment, but it very convincingly argues that those animals remain what they are, no matter how SeaWorld or any other corporation invested in presenting them as cuddly attractions tries to say otherwise.
Well, Never Mind.” by Kevin Roose. Roose stated in his article that, “SeaWorld 's stock is plummeting more than 20 percent today, after quarterly earnings that showed shrinking revenue and lowered guidance for next quarter.” (Roose). However, this is only a small victory. When everything is put into perspective, one can see that the decrease in SeaWorld’s attendance record is only one business that is suffering from the story of Blackfish. There are many more corporations in the world that are keeping orcas in captivity simply for the money from the shows. The effects of the movie, Blackfish, on this corporation is just a drop in the proverbial ocean when it is compared to all of the establishments in the world that keep orcas in captivity. There are many other establishments that still need to be investigated and possibly even shut down due to the mistreatment of these large
The whale Tilicum who is responsible for multiple deaths of trainers is still in captivity and still performs in shows. He now has no life left in him and for hours will still sit in the same spot. This is no way to treat a living thing and in no way should wild animals like this be put into captivity. The bottom line is that these animals are living mammals and should not be put into situations where they are starved and kept in extremely small spaces to live out their lives. Companies like Sea World should no longer have whale shows and should release all of the whales that will be able to survive into the wild. Sea World would be able to survive without their whale show, and even though it is one of the biggest sources of revenue the park can make money in other endevures.
It all began with good intentions. People thinking that they can control these animals and not expect any negative impacts. It was all due to wanting to explore and entertain with the animals. However, not all animals are meant to be taken from the wild to be show animals. After many years of unfair ways, SeaWorld is doing the right thing by closing down the whale exhibit even if it isn’t by choice because it is unhealthy for both the humans and animals involved.
The film Blackfish, a documentary created by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a film about the cruel punishment of killer whales at SeaWorld. It suggests that killer whales should be set free from captivity in marine mammal parks because of the threat and danger towards humans and each other. Blackfish is an explicit example of how logos, ethos and pathos are used to create an argument that is impressive, valid and effective. After watching Blackfish, if you could only take one thing from the film it should have been that orcas are being kept in captivity under cruel conditions for the sole purpose of their investments and profits off of them.
Thesis Statement: Closing SeaWorld’s doors would be unjust, however; SeaWorld can repair its image by providing excellent care for its current residents and by shifting the business model from entertainment to rescue, rehabilitate and release at all locations.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
“Blackfish” has had people thinking about the tragic events happening at SeaWorld and the reasons behind it. SeaWorld tried to cover up the deaths of trainers but, there are always people that find out the truth. The trainers who
Some argue SeaWorld is not a problem, because it is good enough for research, because SeaWorld gives them protection from the outside world where they wouldn’t survive as long, or that being kept in a pool simply doesn’t affect them physically or mentally. SeaWorld is inhumane to Orcas. They do not take care of their physical or mental health, it causes the animals stress and anxiety, and causes them to be aggressive, leading to deathly situations. SeaWorld’s biggest pool is forty feet deep, which may seem large to us, but not when you’re a twenty foot whale that is used to swimming hundreds of miles a day. Keeping Orcas in captivity is not in any way good for their physical or mental health.