Wild animals belong, just as suggested in the name, in the wild. Such a concept includes our friends from the Sea. Despite what seems to be common sense to leave wild animals be in their natural environment, humans have more often than not put themselves first. We have decided as a society in order to love wild animals we must capture them and keep them captive in an unnatural environment. Rather in SeaWorld’s case they choose to hold captive great creatures of the sea. It has been said SeaWorld rescues their animals and provides for them a safe home. Perhaps some of these animals were saved, yet their largest attraction originally never needed rescuing. The great Killer Whale, is SeaWorld’s headliner of the park. These headliners were never in danger in the wild, however they now face a horrid existence in captivity. Ironically the only danger these spectacular mammals have faced are the humans that “rescue” them. Although I am now firm in these beliefs, this was not always my reality. My eyes were only opened to the truth of SeaWorld recently after viewing the film, Blackfish.
Blackfish exposes the despair created by SeaWorld; from the treatment of these killer whales to the injuries and deaths caused by the orcas. Capturing them in and of itself is a sad reality. John Crowe, Diver, reflects on his whale hunting experience in 1970 and all the while holds back tears of regret. Be that as it may Crowe recalls in 1970 the tears were not held back, he continued to work while he cried uncontrollably due to the painful sight of the killer whale families sticking by their calves’ sides and crying out for them while they were captured and loaded up. “Just like kidnapping a little kid away from his mother”, Crowe’s choice of words pier...
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...were and are now taken to prevent such “accidents” involving the killer whale, one precaution stands out. Never hunting the whales to begin with, SeaWorld could have saved many humans and whales from the despair their greed has caused. The corporation should have stuck with rescuing animals and remained a rescue park instead of their chosen route to capture and parade around the orcas. SeaWorld Parks would be extremely different without the splashing of the gigantic killer whale tale, however the parks would remain able stay true to their sharing knowledge of other magnificent under water creatures. Such a solution seems like the obvious choice yet still to this day you can hop on a plane to Florida’s SeaWorld and receive a splashing from their current Shamu. Ultimately I will always prefer to stay dry if the result ends in some peace in nature for the killer whale.
In Blackfish, Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, addresses the accidents that occurred at SeaWorld involving trainers and whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to educate the audience on the cruel treatment and rough conditions of whales that occur in SeaWorld. The film maintains a shocking tone in order to persuade the audience and appeal to feelings of sadness and anger.
Since whales are normally peaceful in the wild and they only seem to attack while in captivity, the argument is that captivity is wrong and dangerous for killer whales. This argument is supported by detailed facts about how the whales are tortured and agitated by other whales with no outlet. Both female and male whales are confined to a swimming pool where they are in a way being forced to try and mate. The female whales tend to abuse the male whales, which leads the whales to become mentally and physically unhealthy resulting in attacks on trainer. In the interviews with Corinne Cowell and Nadine Kallen, they mentioned that when they visited Sealand of the Pacific that three whales were confined to a “dingy pool”. Another appeal to pathos is when a neurologist that has studied killer whales mentions how the animals are very intelligent and are well-aware of what is going on around them. (SeaWorld) Killer whales have similar brains to humans, but have a bigger part of their brain where emotions are processed. With this, whales are more aware of their emotions and the bonds they make with humans and other animals. (SeaWorld) With the huge amount of raw footage, first-hand accounts, and true information, the film is able to grasp the attention of the viewers with the amount of emotion that is shown from the former trainers and the whales themselves. With these tactics, the film effectively appeals to the
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
Blackfish is a well-known film about how whales were kept in captivity while being mistreated. This film explained the situation in more of a sequential order stating each event one after another from occurrence. This film was made to inform people of all the cruel and monstrous things that Sea Land and Sea World were doing to the whales.
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.
Whales in captivity have shown signs of anxiety, stress, and depression causing them to be more aggressive towards humans and the other whales. If you were trapped in a bathtub your entire life, don’t you think you’d become a little irritable and possibly a bit insane? At SeaWorld when the public is not around, usually at night, you can hear the whale’s cries of sadness and distress. Being trapped in a pool their whole life tears at their emotions and causes them to become psychotic. Over a period of thirty years a total of four people have been killed by Orcas in captivity. Three of the killings were done by one famous whale at SeaWorld named Tilikum. Compared to in the wild where there has only been one attack and killing of a
I believe Seaworld should close down because the animals are kept in captivity, which is very harmful to all of these animals. Furthermore, at SeaWorld, the life expectancy of killer whales is 30-50 years, but the average death at SeaWorld is 13 years old. Also, these mammals are supposed to live with their pod their whole life, but at SeaWorld, they take baby whales from their pods and take them to be an animal for the orca show. Additionally, there have been at least 150 orcas taken captive, but 127 of these animals that got captured are now dead. Also, all captive male orcas have collapsed dorsal fins, because they do not have enough room to move freely around in their cage, but SeaWorld claims this is a common condition in the wild, but it rarely happens in the wild. These whales are supposed to swim up to 100 miles a day, but to reach that goal they have to swim 1,208 laps each day
“You hear her just scream out, ‘somebody help me!’ It was such a bloodcurdling scream. She knew she was going to die,” commented John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer. There has been 21 attacks on humans by killer whales in the last 10 years. SeaWorld was associated with 12 of them. In 2013 SeaWorld was worth $2.5 billion, they would do anything to protect their business. They target adults and teenagers; or anyone who can pay. The purpose of the Blackfish documentary was made to inform people how wrong it is what SeaWorld is doing. Animals in captivity do not live as long and depending on the animal there is more complications. Seaworld is an unacceptable place to live, for orcas and any other animal. They do not have animals’ best interests in mind.
David Kirby’s book describes the complex issues of whales in captivity. The death of a SeaWorld trainer brought up many objective reasons of the training practices of this business were not effective at keeping trainers safe in the water. Currently this debate is still being tested in a court of law. OSHA claims that even with the precautions that SeaWorld tries to use, it still cannot guarantee the safety of trainers in the water. This cultural topic has been gaining ground, and recently prompted a movie based off this book titled, Blackfish. The audience of this book includes animal activists, followers of David Kirby, and people that are interested in the topic of killer whales in captivity. Rob Grom was contracted to create a book jacket that would visually depict the context of the David Kirby’s book. The photographer uses his work to persuade people to look into the claims of the book and see another side of the animal park. Grom’s Photograph image uses the picture, the words of the title, and the subtitle to create a twist of the logos, and uses David Kirby’s ethos to create an appeal to the book.
Currently, live whale performances have become well liked for tourists to visit. When they are there, they only see what they want to see and do not care or want to know all about the complications the whales go through just to make people smile. The documentary “Blackfish” exposes the truth about the whales, their habits, and why they act the manner they do when in captivity. The inhumane treatment of whales in captivity causes negative effects on the animals which, in turn, affects the humans who care for them.
"The Aftermath." The Heartbreaking Real-Life Capture of Orcas. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .
In conclusion, SeaWorld’s negligence to inform their employees resulted in dead orcas and dead people. Ways the nation can help cease this barbaric culture of watching animals in their sad aquariums is to legislate that imprisoning animals is wrong. The first step to do this is stop paying to see animals in zoos and aquariums. The next step is to write the country’s Congressmen and force them to make imprisoning animals for profit illegal—for Tilikum, other killer whales like him, and in memory of those like Dawn Brancheau. The last step would be to release all the healthy orcas back into the ocean, and the older whales can be released into a marine animal sanctuary where the orcas can live out their remaining days. Aquariums and zoos, like SeaWorld, should be shut down and have their animals released.
SeaWorld a leader in the captivity and use of killer whales for entertainment has counterattacked the points made by the documentary Blackfish, which brought many points to light. For example, SeaWorld asserts “that while research suggests that some wild killer whales can live as long as 60 to 70 years, their average lifespan is nowhere near that,” (source). In the wild, average lifespan is 30 for males, 50 for females, and can live up to be 80-90 years old. In captivity, in such environments as those at SeaWorld, most orcas die in their teens or 20s and only a handful survive past 25. The annual mortality or death rate for orcas is 2.5 times higher ...
Kirby, David. Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012. Print.
For decades SeaWorld has operated and advertised under the guise of being a happy family destination where children can interact and supposedly learn more about sea life and sea creatures. The documentary Blackfish, however, has illuminated the public on the shady practices of this world renowned park and the manner in which they mistreat their animals and endanger their employees. The death of SeaWorld whale trainer, Dawn Brancheau, sent out shockwaves to the public; was this supposedly educational, family-friendly Park not as safe as people thought? SeaWorld scrambled and changed their story multiple times as to how the incident occurred and denied that they were at fault. The world-famous sea park built up such a celebrity status with their main attraction, “Shamu” that they could not possibly let the name be smeared by the death of an employee. What the research gathered hear proposes is that SeaWorld has built such an empire with the “Shamu” moniker and the killer whales’ “celebrity-ism”, that it’s gotten to the point where they are simply exploiting intelligent creatures to line their pockets with money.