SeaWorld’s Argument Against BlackFish The website for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment is speaking towards anyone that has seen the documentary BlackFish, or anyone who thinks that SeaWorld is abusing or mistreating the orcas or other animals by keeping them in captivity. They also attract the corporate side of SeaWorld as a business. The website gives information about what the business does to give back to the community, how their animals are treated and shows their credibility to draw in customers. The tab titled “The truth about Blackfish” states multiple points about how the producers of the documentary were lying about their facts or over exaggerating to appeal to multiple viewers. The purpose is to fight back against …show more content…
The corporate officials of SeaWorld used facts to convince viewers to believe their credibility instead of those of BlackFish by different logistic angles such as their many years of being in business. They stated in the website that in the more than fifty years SeaWorld has been in business, they have built a diversified portfolio of 11 destination and regional theme parks which proves they are a well-rounded corporation. They inform the viewer that their programs and practices are based solely on the wellbeing of the animals; “Our advanced programming applies a broad range of best practices based upon behavioral enrichment, preventive health, veterinary medicine and facilities design and management. Our programs and policies are affirmed by numerous federal and state laws, including the Animal Welfare Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and other statuses”(SeaWorld Website). They make it their priority to accommodate environmental, social and economic sustainability across the company and throughout their employee culture, which is a huge part of having a thriving business. With this aspect of the business, they show that they are reliable and a trustworthy corporation. They state in the website how they have over 21,000 team members nationwide, which appeals to how the crew members are treated across the country, otherwise they wouldn’t have any employees. They make many
Why would a business do this? The answer is money. Seaworld is dependent of Orcas because it was not until Seaworld had capture Shamu the fourth Orcas capture ever in 1965 until Seaworld gain popularity. This let expand to other locations like Ohio, Orlando and many more. Shamu capture led to Seaworld being as big as it today. Money led to people forgetting ethically business practices. Therefore, no one thought about the whale they were only thinking the money come in.
While Blackfish does not touch upon any of the good that SeaWorld does. Again, this does not mean that the film is unreliable in and of itself. However, it again casts reasonable doubt over the film’s veracity, an issue that the director of a compelling film should strive to avoid. If Cowperthwaite aimed simply to get people thinking, she would have given viewers a positive perspective as well, so as to enable viewers to conduct their own robust cost-benefit analyses of SeaWorld’s business
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.
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
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.
Blackfish Impacts “Seaworld's whale performances may never be the same.” The film was wanting to be created because of the accident in 2010 with Dawn Brancheau and the Orca, Tilikum. The author of the CNN article, Gabriela Cowperthwaite said, “something about a ponytail, something about her slipping and falling, something about how this almost never ever happens because in these parks, the animals are happy and the trainers are safe.” , but when the researchers dug up the dirt on Sea World, it was released to the public in Blackfish, making them lose 84% in revenue and 2% in attendance.
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.
SeaWorld is a United States based park with live aquatic animals. SeaWorld has been under some scrutiny lately with the treatment of their Orcas as well as their living conditions. Some people believe what SeaWorld is doing is okay whereas others do not. Some think keeping animals in captivity is acceptable, and others think taking them away from their families is uncalled for. Washington Post believes what SeaWorld doing is perfectly acceptable. PBS a typically children’s network is completely for SeaWorld and keeping animals in captivity. SeaWorld is strongly debated on keeping animals in captivity, their living conditions, and taking orcas away from their families.
I never saw how businesses like SeaWorld worked until watching this documentary, the amount of effectiveness, it has changed my mind about how we see animals in shows differently. The title is a hook, Blackfish, it draws an audience in, the documentary was released July 19, 2013 in New York City, and it was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Blackfish is about the orcas that have performed at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida and San Diego, California, former SeaWorld trainers also gave their testimonials about their experiences and the experiences of the orcas. The main points were about the biggest male orca there named Tilikum and the death of SeaWorld's poster girl, Dawn Brancheau. After analyzing this documentary, the form on how we see these
A large part of why people agree with the argument in Blackfish relates to the ethos, the credibility that the writer generates within the piece of the work. There are two forms of ethos: extrinsic, the reputation of the author outside of the intended argument and how it affects the credibility of the work and intrinsic, how the author creates trust within the speech (Inventing Arguments). First, the filmmaker, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, made sure to gather a team with experience and credibility, two things that create effective extrinsic ethos within the documentary. Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a documentary filmmaker who, for more than 12 years, has directed, produced and written for well-known companies such as ESPN, National Geographic, Animal Planet, and Discovery Channel. On her team she recruited an associate producer, Tim Zimmermann, who wrote an article on Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer who was killed by the famous “Big Splash” orca, Tilikum. Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish documentary was also funded by CNN, a company that many audiences would find trustworthy due to their authority and reliability when it comes to reporting the news. During the documentary, there are four, former SeaWorld trainers who are interviewed: Samantha Berg, Jeffrey Ventre, Carol Ray, and John Hargrove. These are professionals who were not only employed at SeaWorld, the company that Blackfish is trying to build a case against, but who also worked next to Dawn Brancheau and many of the other orcas that have reacted violently towards their trainers. The fact that they are speaking out against the treatment of these whales immensely helps the ethos of the documentary because of the background and firsthand experience they have. Last, another extremely trustworthy source that appears numerous times throughout the documentary is OSHA, or the
In 2013, a documentary called Blackfish was released to criticize SeaWorld for its treatment of Killer Whales(NewsyBusiness). Ever since, SeaWorld has been fighting its way to redemption. Recently, a new Ad campaign called the Blue World Project, that has highlighted SeaWorld’s involvement with the Killer Whales, was released. These Ads have become very helpful to the influence of the public on the real background of SeaWorld.
Whales. Majestic sea creatures, with life spans similar to humans. Unfortunately SeaWorld, the world renowned aquarium park, cuts the lifespan of this beautiful creatures dangerously short. In the documentary, Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, they revealed the many atrocities that SeaWorld has committed against the whales to make more profit. However, the documentary is extremely biased against SeaWorld, exaggerating several key facts throughout the duration of the film.
I was shocked by the way Seaworld cover the true of the dead of Dawn Brancheau recently documented.I am frustrated by the way Seaworld is exposing people to danger of death or injury and keeping Blackfish in captivity without the freedom they should have living with their families in the ocean.
Shots fired Gabriela Cowpethwaite, for her excellent effort in exposing SeaWorld for it’s true colors. In modest words, I suppose karma was Cowpethwaite’s main objective. Yet, to my amazement, I’m shocked that it took this long. After bizarre interviews referencing to SeaWorld death incidents, no-one except Cowpethwaite thought it was a bit cliché! Sure. Although it would be hypocritical for me to assume Blackfish was without fault, for myself there was beyond enough evidence to financially, mentally and physically drown SeaWorld, However, why is this industrial behemoth still swimming?
This was my initial thoughts after reading the webpage, so I looked for more sources on google from another perspective. I ran into WDC, or more formally, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation. WDC is an non-profit organization dedicated to stopping the cruelty and mistreatment of large marine mammals. This organization's webpage gave many statistical facts about Orcas’ in captivity. Including the fact that orcas have been taken out of the wild and into human care since 1961, and one hundred and sixty three have died in captivity. Seaworld hold twenty three orcas today, and the website also told that forty-five orcas have died under Seaworld's care. This was the same park that I had just read that they have highly trained professionals and claims