Advantages Of Keeping Animals In Zoo

One of the most hotly debated topics for the past several decades has been whether the

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s activist documentary, Blackfish, spurred a significant public dialogue following its 2013 premier. The film centers on the role of Tilikum, an orca whale at SeaWorld, in the deaths of three SeaWorld trainers, including, most recently, Dawn Brancheau. Cowperthwaite follows a suit brought against Sea World by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), weaving together testimony of scientists, former trainers, and family members of the deceased, among others, to make a compelling case against SeaWorld’s practice of holding and performing alongside orcas. Nevertheless, after its release, the film drew criticism from some of its participants as well as Sea World itself. Cowperthwaite claims not to have tried to vilify SeaWorld. However, this claim seems dubious given the film’s fairly evident anti-SeaWorld bias.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite in the documentary, Blackfish (2013), argues that captivity triggers aggression in killer whales. Cowperthwaite supports her argument by demonstrating shocking footage and emotional interviews to present a convincing case against keeping these animals in captivity and for human entertainment. The author’s purpose is to show the problems that are caused by captivity in order to aware the audience that keeping killer whales in captivity affects their behavior mentally and physically. The author writes in resentful tone to Sea World, the people who visited Sea World, and those who were present during the killer whale incident. Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that keeping killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld affects their mentality due to how they are being treated. She makes this argument by applying pathos, ethos, and logos.

Another incident that occurred was Dawn Brancheau’s death. In the days following the fatality, SeaWorld made a statement that her death was her own fault. This statement was obviously after further investigation. From the provided evidence, the audience can clearly see that SeaWorld did not want to be held accountable for their irresponsibility of managing the care and wellbeing of the whales and

If you have ever been to Seaworld you would have had to go see the Killer whales in fact its one of the top attractions there. Through the eyes of a child, these gentle giants seem to be happy, healthy, and enjoying a playful game with their trainers. The question is are they really happy, do they get treated the right way, and why have there been deaths and injuries. Many people wonder about these things and after the movie Blackfish came out more and more people began to question how well Seaworld treats their animals. “The truth is that Sea World keeps its animals for entertainment and money and helps no one but themselves.”- Animal Legal Defense Fund

For several years, Americans have been visiting amusement parks, like SeaWorld and Six Flags, to observe large animals like orcas, also known as killer whales. These whales are quite difficult to view in the wild, but can now be seen for a simple fee. Orcas are known to be one of the smartest mammals. They are friendly, and this has caused people to take advantage of them. For the past sixty years, people have brought these massive creatures into their aquariums to make a profit from their exhibitions. Often, without considering the orcas' quality of life. While kept in captivity, killer whales are forced to do many tricks they normally wouldn’t do in the wild. Over the years, there have been numerous controversies regarding killer whales

As a young child there has been so many commercials about how SeaWorld is such an amazing place for marine life animals, yet what we do not know is that most of these animals have been held in captivity against their will. Just think about it, these animals’ are made to perform day in and day out for a huge crowd, yet we do not stop and think about what it would be like if we ourselves were held in captivity. Although awareness needs to be brought to this issue, it can make this situation a touchy subject. However, awareness does need to be brought to attention of people who support these amusement parks. The life of orca whales held in captivity are dangerous and have suffered a great amount of distress.

Although there are many problems, there are also many solutions to save the killer whales that are being held captive.The death of the female trainer at SeaWorld in 2010 caused by Tilikum dragging her into the pool by her ponytail and torturing her caused a lot of controversy. That is when SeaWorld announced that the trainers would no longer interact with the orcas in the water during live Shamu shows. Although the trainers would no longer interact they would still continue doing the live shows. SeaWorld decided to put a wall between the trainers and the massive whales so that they can feed them without being put at a risk to be in danger. This action was the start of making SeaWorld a better place and the start to many other solutions that

The biggest eye opener to this realisation was the death of a trainer on the 24 of February, 2010. She was dragged down by an Orca during a show and drowned in front of hundreds of people after he broke bones

Holding killer whales in captivity is a harmful problem to the mammal that requires action from both the government and the public.

On February 24, 2010, Dawn Brancheau, a veteran orca trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, was killed during the “Dine with Shamu” show by a whale named Tilikum. Horrified tourists watched helplessly as Brancheau was dragged into the tank and thrashed about in the water by Tilikum. William M. Welch of USA Today wrote in one article that “Brancheau was rubbing the 12,000-pound orca after a show when it grabbed her and pulled her in”(1). This incident, while shocking to many, was not the first time Tilikum had caused the death of a whale trainer. In 1991, before Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld, he occupied a tank at a

The 2013 Documentary Blackfish directed by Gabriela Cowparthwaite brings us the story of Sea World, Orcas or also known as “Killer Whales”, and the death of Dawn Brancheau who was a the senior trainer at Sea World. The documentary presents many emotional feelings us humans have toward these Orcas, everything from from love to anxiety to fear to wonder. In the wild Orcas are viewed as beautiful, majestic and charismatic beasts that have never harmed a human being, but in captivity Orcas have the persona of vicious killers. Blackfish raises question about these intelligent animals, do Orcas kill because they are in captivity? Do Orcas finally lose patience’s with its trainers and react to end the nonsense humans have forced upon them?

The death of Dawn Brancheau made national news back in 2010. Dawn was working as an orca trainer at the SeaWorld of Orlando when the tragic accident occurred. While doing a relationship session with Tilikum, the largest orca in captivity, Dawn was pulled into the water and drowned. It was a story that not only shocked the nation but left people wondering how something so horrible could happen. Gabriela Cowperthwaite‘s use of the accounts of retired SeaWorld trainers exposed the harsh reality of captured animals in her documentary Blackfish. In creating a piece focused on the life of one orca, Cowperthwaite has allowed viewers to look into the lives of captured animals and has shown the greater social issue of animal rights, the treatment

Keeping whales in captivity is so cruel that the whales became erratic and could kill people. Ms Brancheau's death demostrates that close contact with killer whales is a hazard likely to cause death or serious injury additionally osha found that Seaworld had violated the general duty of clause of occupational safety and healthy exposing trainers to recognized hazards when they are working in close contact with killer whales.

The main aim of zoos is to protect and conserve global biodiversity and wildlife. To do this they have four roles to play which are; research, conservation, education and welfare.