Blackfish Reflection

Blackfish is a documentary centered around the treatment of killer whales held in captivity, most notably that of Tilikum, an orca that was held by SeaWorld at its facility in Orlando, Florida. The documentary begins in 1983 with the capture of Tilikum and sheds light on the deaths involved with the infamous killer whale. Moreover, it features interviews with former SeaWorld employees who interacted with Tilikum and witnesses who were present for some of Tilikum’s reported attacks. Jeff Ventre, a board-certified medical doctor and former SeaWorld Trainer, and John Jett, a marine mammal scientist are also brought onto the documentary to analyze the scientific facts presented and to describe it in a way that is easily understood by the viewer. In the documentary, there are many examples of rhetorical devices used to provoke the viewer to stand against the captivity of killer whales.

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.

Captivity Kills The documentary Blackfish reveals the horrifying story of the capture and torture of orca whales at the well-known amusement park, SeaWorld. Blackfish revealed the heartless treatment of the orca whales to the public eye. Tilikum, a featured whale in the documentary, was taken from his family at a young age and forced to live in a small concrete pool for most of his life. His experiences revealed a large part of the problem of placing whales in confinement.

In November of 1983 Tilikum was taken away from his family at approximately two years of age. Once he was in America he didn't go straight to Seaworld, he actually started at a small marine park in Florida called Sealand. While he was there the trainer used the female orcas to teach Tilikum all the tricks, but if he did not perform it the correct way there would be a punishment. This meant that neither of the orcas would get a reward which was food.the females became mad at tilikum and would rake him, meaning they would scrape their teeth across the length of his body. The conditions at the very small marine park were awful for such large animals, the tank that all three of them were put into was only 100-foot-by-50-foot pool that was just 35 feet deep. Now you would think after being trapped in such a small space would make you go a little crazy, and in Tilikum’s case it did. While he was at Sealand he was the cause of a trainer's death, he had drowned her, this was the first humane killed. Eventually Sealand shutdown, and “on January 3, 1992 SeaWorld applied for an emergency permit authorizing immediate importation of Tilikum for medical reasons.”- PBS, Frontline. Once he was at Seaworld he was put straight to work learning all the routines, but his living conditions didn’t get much better the other whales at Seaworld raked him too. The trainers soon put Tilikum into his own

The documentary, Blackfish, proves that there was and still is quite a bit of controversy over whether it is ethical to keep Orcas in captivity. Some people believe that it is acceptable since the Orcas are being treated and fed well. Other people, however, believe that this is not ethical because being kept in a tank for twenty years leads to aggression and therefore is too dangerous for humans. The documentary proves that there are many incidents, in the past, where a whale has harmed their trainer. One example of this, that made people more aware of the danger, was the death of Dawn Brancheau in 2010 (Cowperthwaite & Oteyza, 2013). The incidence has led to many different debates over the years and Sea World has had to try to refute the claims that were made about them. The claims were regarding their treatment of the whales and other issues. However, Sea World was not

Since SeaWorld opened in 1964, the park has encountered harsh criticism from the public. Whether criticized for their ethics or their oblivious harm to animals, the underwater amusement park raises many ethical questions regarding the captivity of sea animals, especially orcas. Most people are uninformed about orcas to begin with, so they do not understand why SeaWorld is such a terrible place. SeaWorld exploits animals in their shows to bring revenue to their company, while disregarding the physical and mental health of the animals. Today, people have begun to see the reasons why SeaWorld should close. SeaWorld should close their doors due to their record of unhealthy orcas, their aggressive killer whale, Tilikum, and their dishonesty to the public.

There has been many other cases that has been ignored before even Tilikum has killed people in Seaworld that they have completely twisted and made up lies to cover up the fact Orcas shouldn't be tamed and put in large pools. For example, November 23, 1987 trainer John had an Orca jump on top of him causing many injuries and another attack in November 29, 2006.

Blackfish (2013), a mesmerizing, psychological documentary with 7 film awards and 38 nominations, presents an extensive look into the negative effects captivity has on Orca whales. The director and writer Gabriela Cowperthwaite calls her audience to action, similar to documentaries such as Food, Inc., The Cove, and Super Size Me. In all of these documentaries, the director and writers reach out to an audience that is not fully knowledgeable on a certain topic, in order to persuade them into taking a stance on a certain topic. In Gabriela’s film, she illustrates the story of Tilikum, a performing Orca who killed many people while at SeaWorld, Orlando. Though at times graphic, the film investigates the harmful effects captivity has had on these wonderful creatures and their trainers. Blackfish uses credible interviewees, powerful voice-overs, and influential outside evidence to persuade those who are un-informed of the negative effects of captivity on killer whales. The ultimate goal in doing this is to urge these individuals to take a stance against aquatic captivity.

Since 1961, 157 orcas, or killer whales, have been ripped from their homes and shoved into captivity. 127 of these orcas are now dead. With the number of captured orcas plus the number of those born into captivity, The W.D.C. (Whale and Dolphin Conservation) reports that, “At least 162 orcas have died in captivity, not including 30 miscarried or stillborn calves” ( “The Fate”1). Out of the 127 taken into captivity, 44 have died in SeaWorld. There are currently 58 orcas residing in 14 marine parks in eight different countries. 24 of those orcas are held in SeaWorld’s three parks in the United States. Since 2002, 14 have been taken out of the wild and put into these marine parks. (“The Fate”1) It is not fair for these innocent creatures to be physically and mentally manipulated and damaged. Such brutality would not be condoned if it were targeted towards a human, and it should not be condoned when targeted toward an animal. Orca whales should not be held in captivity because they are forced to live in subpar conditions, they are mistreated while in captivity, and they are led to aggressive behavior.

November 1983. A two year old, thirteen foot long, male orca was captured off the coast of Iceland, using nets and explosives. Here, he was ripped away from his family, and the life he could have had. They named him Tilikum. He was then taken to, the now run down park, Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada. His new home? A hundred by fifty foot pool that was only 35 feet deep. He shared this tank with two dominant females, Nootka and Haida, who regularly attacked him. The stress of performing every hour, eight times a day, seven days a week, gave him stomach ulcers. Sometimes, he was so stressed he couldn’t perform correctly. His punishment was food deprivation. His tank mates were also withheld from food. At night, all three were forced into a twenty foot pen, only thirty feet deep. The tension caused Nootka and Haida too lash out and bite him repeatedly. It was only a matter of time before Tilikum retaliated.

On May 30th of 2012, judge Ken Welsch issued a ruling on OSHA vs. SeaWorld: During the shows, SeaWorld trainers must now remain behind barriers, separated from the orcas. The ruling on this case is necessary to keep trainers, audiences and as well as the orca safe. In the documentary “Blackfish” clarifies the incidents of SeaWorld, specifically with Tilikum a male orca, utilizing various rhetorical devices. The documentary declares the intelligence orcas have, the controversy with keeping them in captivity and how poorly informed the trainers are of previous incidents.

The orcas on film have suffered greatly as a result of their captivity. The area in which SeaWorld

The book has three parts, the last part focuses on how SeaWorld management could not hide their dark side anymore. After Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau, everything changed. The captivity debate increased exponentially and questions aroused as to why an intelligent orca would commit this act. Although originally SeaWorld said that Brancheau slipped and fell into the pool, there were witnesses that told the media the truth. Tilikum grabbed Brancheau while she was laying on the surface about ten inches away and began to ram her head against the pool and dragged her to the bottom. After thirty minutes, Tilikum was captured with parts of Brancheau’s body in his mouth. Researches began to look up previous cases where Tilikum has attacked, and they did not make sense to Brancheau’s case because of how long she has worked with Tilikum. This book supports my thesis because it begins the journey to orcas being completely free. Although it may contain similar information to my former source Blackfish, this book goes into more depth as to why the animal captivity investigation

SeaWorld is a profit based zoo not educational or research focused. They will get their whales from anywhere and any way possible.“For Tilikum felt and also inflicted great pain. While in captivity, he was implicated in the deaths of three humans, including his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in 2010.” Tilikum felt pain and gave a lot more pain back. There is way too much stress involved with SeaWorld and its whales from killings to the whales themselves being very

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