Mass Dolphin Murder

In the documentary “Blackfish”, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, she discussed the harmful events that have occurred when keeping killer whales contained for show and entertainment purposes. Cowperthwaite argued the fact that the killer whales become aggressive when held captive in an area too small for them and separated from their families. Throughout the documentary there were many horrifying stories about the attacks told by people who had saw the tragedies first-hand.

A documentary is an expository text that informs its audience about an issue person or event using visual and auditory conventions to convey a message. Documentaries are often used to reveal an unusual, interesting or unknown angle. Topics are limited only by one's imagination. The documentary Blackfish is the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, it underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. This documentary was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The ideas that orcas are wild and unpredictable, Seaworld’s treatment of orcas are inhumane and Seaworld’s was negligent in their training of their trainers. These ideas are shown throughout the documentary as visual techniques of Celebrity figure, expert opinion, audio codes, the documentary technique of interviews, archival footage and written codes. I think these ideas in the documentary are quite true and are well proven throughout the documentary.

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.

In the documentary “Blackfish”, directed by Gabriela Cowperthawaite in 2013, is asking the audience to take up a position on the inhumane treatment of whales in captivity. In particular, she invites us to feel sympathy for the whales and anger toward SeaWorld cruelty and denial of culpability. Cowperthawaite makes choices of visual image, language, sound and structure achieve her outstanding outcomes.

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 the truth revealing documentary “Blackfish”, the film reveals what these killer whales in entertainment parks such as SeaWorld go through, along with the trainers who work with them. The documentary shows clips and pictures of the killer whales mauling the trainers, and whales fighting each other resulting in

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.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary Blackfish explores the harm captivity causes to whales and their trainers. Throughout the film the orca whales undergo a transformation from defenseless creatures into molded killers. The orcas in the film are portrayed as intelligent and caring creatures who are capable of grief. Through this character the development the documentary has affected how these animals are treated, as well as the public’s opinion on the issue.

The rhetorical situation of the documentary is presented by director and writer Gabriela Cowperthwaite when she brings to light the history of Seaworld and it’s famous orca, Tilikum by recruiting former trainers and whale experts. The context of the film is explained when it dives into the orca attacks, the most recent victim being Dawn Brancheau who was killed by Tilikum in 2010. The principle aim to this documentary is that orcas should not be held in captivity because it is detrimental to their mind citing past incidents throughout Tilikum’s life. I found this “text” to be effective because it highlights the developed brain of an orca, former incidents with Tilikum, and consistent concealment of blame from

The documentary Blackfish was debuted by CNN in 2013, shortly after the death of SeaWorlds’ orca trainer Dawn Brancheau. That, and other strange “accidental” deaths, brought up a controversial issue debating whether or not seaworld is telling the truth or just covering it up. In the film, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite reveals the problems within the sea-park industry, human relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intellectual

SeaWorld has shone on the radar of public peruse and activist criticism since experiencing its first animal-motivated death on July 6th, 1999. The victim, 27-year-old Daniel P. Dukes, had ambiguously evaded park night-security and entered the Orca tank under the cover of darkness. He was found dead the next day, drowned; but although declaring Dukes’ primary cause-of-death as pulmonary edema, Orlando’s District Nine Medical Examination Office also detailed vivid lacerations and avulsions - specifically of the genitalia. The severity of Dukes’ mutilation beaconed the public to his attacker: Tilikum, the largest Orca ever to be held in captivity - and not one new to, or finished with, killing. In response to Tilikum’s violent and arguably tragic history, film director Gabriela Cowperthwaite organized an ambitious, journalistic undertaking to expose SeaWorld’s inhumanity to the public; this undertaking would eventually translate into the 2013 documentary, Blackfish. Blackfish is, at its core, a project of entertainment, so the 1 hour and 30 minute film extensively fuses artistic expression with factual evidence to persuade its audience into condemning SeaWorld and its conglomerates, as well as to stand with Blackfish in its battle against the organization for its abusive conduct.

A documentary is film dedicated to recording an aspect of reality for informational purposes. Documentaries can cover a wide variety of topics, such as the wildlife in the world. A major topic that has become relevant is the discussion of endangered species and the human impact on their lives. In the movie, The Cove, the portrayal of Ric O’Barry creates pathos and ethos to gives the audience a sense of urgency to help the fight against the slaughtering of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Ric O’Barry, in the 1960’s, was a famous capturer and trainer of dolphins for the popular TV show, Flipper.

Inserting an audio clip that is this horrifying at the beginning of the documentary the audience completely shocks the viewers and catches them off guard with something they never thought they would hear. To hear that a professional trainer had been swallowed by one of their own orcas which they spend a lot of time with is very frightening. Since this was place strategically at the start of the documentary the viewers may have created hate for the orcas as they had just killed one of their own kind. As an interview with the paramedic is shown and how the paramedic mentions that there was no blood at all in the water as the trainer had been scalped can leave a sick feeling in your stomach with how descriptive the death of trainer was. After viewers are done listening to the interview many might question why humans would work with such dangerous animals like that and why they would even be kept alive in captivity if they are able to cause that much harm to us. These audio recording and interviews makes the viewers think about how tragic it was for an orca which had been kept in captivity to kill a SeaWorld trainer.

Documentaries and feature articles are both enjoyed and criticised by the public, because they often provide controversial opinions and shocking evidence. Both documentaries and articles are created with the same purpose; to educate the reader or viewer on a topic and convince them that their particular view is correct. This is done through the use of inclusive language, statistics, anecdotes, bias, clichés and other persuasive techniques. In this case, both The Cove and “Stop Killing Our Dolphins” are similar because they both use emotive language, such as “shameful, all-too-frequent slaughter” and “She was really depressed. I could feel it. I could see it. And she committed suicide in my arms. That's a very strong word, suicide”. Both Topfer

Through a collection of research, commercials, and interviews, the documentary, Blackfish, reveals the possible reasons for the number of recent killer whale attacks. Blackfish argues that killer whales experience frustration and abuse when held in captivity. In addition, many theme parks, like Sea World, withhold information about the treatment and natural history from both employees and tourists.