The 's Treatment Of Killer Whales

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.

In 2013 Gabriela Cowperthwaite produced and directed the documentary “Blackfish”. This documentary mainly focused on the issues behind killer whales being held in captivity such as at the famous amusement park Sea World, instead of the open ocean. Some negative outcomes of these animals being confined to such small spaces is, many accounts have been documented of the whales being agitated and having an aggressive tone with other whales and the trainers as well that work with them. A handful of these are human deaths caused by the orca whales. Throughout the documentary the director uses the Rhetorical strategies ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience and try to convince them that her argument has a valid point and can be

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.

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

“Blackfish” the documentary film was created to reveal how confinement of killer whales can lead to dangerous behavior toward human trainers. The main claim this film displayed is how the captivity of Killer Whales triggers aggression and is unsafe for humans and other marine mammals. Blackfish uses the story of Tilikum (most aggressive killer whale who killed the most amount of Sea World trainers), interviews of previous trainers, and court hearings regarding OSHA and Sea World to support their claim.

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

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.

Blackfish, a documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, analyzes the horrific treatment, containment, and use of Orca whales within entertainment facilities. The discussion of treatment began in 2010, when Dawn Brancheau was killed and drowned by the whale, Tilikum. Since this incident, there have been multiple investigations into SeaWorld and similar facilities. It is argued that the whales should be released from these facilities due to the posed dangers they have to humans, and themselves.

The documentary “Blackfish” uses the rhetorical device of logos to condemn animal entertainment facilities such as Sea World for their treatment of animals in captivity. For instance, killer whales stay in the same pod all their lives until they are captured. The speakers in “Blackfish” pointed this out because it tells us that whales have a strong family bond. Also, whales do not do well when they are separated from their families. In addition, if one whale gets stranded, the rest of the whales willingly get stranded with it.

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

“I think that in 50 years, we’ll look back and go ‘My God, what a barbaric time’” (Jett). Blackfish is a 2013 controversial documentary that uses the life story of a particular orca whale to depict the theme park SeaWorld in a negative light. Blackfish proves SeaWorld is an immoral and cruel institution despite SeaWorld’s defense. The film accomplishes this by showing how SeaWorld illegally steals Orcas from the wild and separates pods, disregards the safety of trainers, provides inadequate homes for the Orcas, and blames trainers for its own failures.

According to hsus.org, the stress on the whales in captivity can cause stomach ulcers, and pacing.

The universal image of the dolphin portrays the illusion that dolphins are always happy because they consistently appear to be smiling. This, however, is nature’s greatest deception as it is simply the shape of their mouth. Throughout the film the juxtaposition of the beauty of nature is harshly contrasted with the ugliness of the underlying secrets of the industry in Japan and around the world. The fishing industry is largest in Japan therefore that is where this movie was filmed. The captive industry has become a lucrative billion-dollar worldwide trade, with all money made from the exploitation, imprisonment and lifelong suffering of these living beings. A live dolphin captured for a marine mammal park can be valued up to $200,000. The most shocking fact is that this is legal. The International Whaling Commission outlawed commercial whaling in 1986, but dolphin hunts remain legal. The film’s impact was largely due to the emotional ties between O’Barry and dolphins. Although the filmmakers are extremely biased, his convincing pleads for our help are strategically made at the most emotional moments. He believes that bottlenose dolphins are being hunted the most “The fishermen are searching for bottlenose dolphins like flipper”. Luckily this type of dolphin is not yet endangered but this

Popular attractions like zoos and aquariums have been a popular tourist hub for countless years. Whether it is feeding the giraffes over the railing or spotting the elephants during feeding time, there are numerous endeavors for human amusement in these types of attractions. However, the lives of the living animals on the other side of the railing or aquarium glass seems to be widely overlooked by the corporations themselves. No matter how intensive the efforts of these companies are to make the exhibits of these wild animals “wild-like”, living in captivity will never add up to a true, natural lifestyle. Any place that is selling souvenir cups with little lion heads on them, or plush dolls of favorite animals in the exhibits, have their ranking of profit and revenue before the health and welfare of their animals. The film Blackfish takes an all-inclusive look into the lucrative company of SeaWorld, and focus’ solely on the capture and treatment of their killer whales, revealing the truths of the poor treatment of these ocean loving creatures. Additionally, Jurassic World is a fictional movie that has an overlying theme of animals raised in captivity, and the uncontrollable traits of wild animals, whether they are captive or wild. By looking at the movies “Blackfish” and “Jurassic World” we can see the business side of animal entertainment corporations are naïve to the welfare of the animals who are having their lives cut short, natural instincts released, and offspring

The director of the documentary “The Cove” positions and influences the viewer to think a certain way about captivity and slaughtering dolphins. Overall director Lois Phihoyos potions the audience to view the capture and slaughter of dolphins as a horrific unspeakable act that no person should ever commit. In particular Phihoyos positions us to view Japanese fisherman as horrible murders who are committing a disgusting crime against humanity and nature itself and when they show us how and what happens to the dolphins while being killed.