Blackfish Analysis

Millions of people come from across the world to visit Seaworld every day without thinking about the lives of the animals behind the scenes. Why would they have concerns? From Seaworld’s commercials to the website, they convince the general public that Seaworld is the place to go to see the happy sea animals perform. If Seaworld is such an ecstatic place, what excuse does Tilikum, their greatest well known orca whale, have for the three attacks on trainers? The documentary “Blackfish” was created by the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite because she questioned herself after realizing Tilikum's odd behavior over time in captivity, and if there was any indisputable parts to animal captivity?
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a notorious orca

whale, performing for millions, but carrying out three fatal attacks on trainers while in captivity. The documentary starts out by Sealand of the Pacific workers, trapping a pod of orcas together in Iceland and picking out the younger, one including Tikilium. Throughout the film different trainers tell their perspective on what they thought SeaWorld was going to be like, but soon realizing the unfair activities the Orcas were put through. Not only was it the orcas, but all the other mammals have also been experiencing captivity at different levels. Blackfish focuses on the negative, harmful effects of captivity on the orcas, such as the pool size, breakage of family bonds, and stress.
How would you feel if your house got taken away, but were given a box to live in instead? Unfortunately, that is what reality is for SeaWorld orcas. The pools they are forced to consider as a home are tiny for them, at a current 350 feet wide and a depth of 50 feet. There are many concerns to these pools, some of them, including the orcas abilities to dive, distance, age, lack of natural orca behavior, and the financial upkeep. In the wild, orcas are free and have the ability to dive down to 1,000 feet, unlike the pools at SeaWorld where the depth is fifty feet. With that in mind, that’s nine hundred and fifty feet that an orca is unable to dive. With orcas in the ocean, the distance is endless. Orcas are known to swim up to 100 miles at least a day, but with the pools they’re held captive in, it’s impossible. For an orca to swim 100 miles at SeaWorld in the size of their tank, they would have to swim around the outer edge of the pool fourteen hundred times (“The Fate of Captive Orcas”). Since 2017, in the last ten years the lifespan of the orcas has been cut. Seven different orcas have passed at an age less than thirteen due to captivity, compared to in the wild where they may live up to one hundred years old. In a study of the Marine Mammal Science, a study was shown that in the United States in the last twelve years, that sixty-three percent of the orcas that have passed had spent less than a decade in the tank. Another study showed that ninety-two percent of the orcas at SeaWorld did not survive past the age of twenty-five (“The Fate of Captive Orca”). Once in captivity, the behavior of an orca changes physically and mentally. Stress can physically alter their bodies, when seeing an orca in captivity you will notice their dorsal fin tipped over to the side, which in the wild there is a less than one percent chance of this happening (“The Fate of Captive Orca”). Due to the stress of the shallow pools, the orcas spend much more time towards the surface of the water than at the bottom which over time makes the fin fold over. In the wild, the ocean is free of cost with the health of animals much higher. Seaworld has decided on spending ninety-five million dollars on new tanks, but what’s the difference if they’re still captivated in cramped tanks? For every one million dollars of SeaWorld money spent, only six hundred dollars in sending to conservation purposes. With ninety-five million dollars being spent on tanks, that’s more money that what SeaWorld projects to spend on the rescue and conservation of animals in thirteen years (“Why SeaWorld’s Tanks Will NEVER Be Enough”).
Your family consists of you, your mother, father, and brother. When your house is taken, your family is also separated. Your mother is sent to Orlando, your father to San Antonio, and your brother in San Diego, this represents the breakage of bonds between the orcas when they’re separated in their pods. In the wild, orca mothers maintain a healthy bondage with their pods and offspring. Orcas are somewhat like humans when thinking of them social and family oriented. With SeaWorld breaks pods and putting them in separate locations, the bonds between them are broken. A pod consists of two to fifteen individuals, and sometimes the babies stick with their mothers for their life (“8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld”). With them being taken away, this is the ultimate suffering, mentally and physically.
The small tanks and mistreatment only induces stress.

The mental and physical stress affects the whale’s bodies, which leads them to lash out in different ways. Expressed in the “Blackfish” documentary, Tilikum shows his stress in different ways, from breaking teeth to three deaths of trainers. Tilikum, in attempt to manage stress, chewed on the concrete and metal walls of his tank, shattering his teeth. Many of the Orca’s teeth end up being drilled, hollow, or fractured. Tilikum eventually turned to a different way of relieving stress. The first occurrence happened in February 21st, 1991 where Sealand trainer and marine biologist student Keltie Byrne fell into a pool with the holding of three orcas, one including Tikilium. Keltie’s autopsy read that she was drowned by being tossed among the three orcas like a playtoy (“Orca”). The second occurrence happened on July 6th, 1999, a man trespassing through the park named Daniel P. Dukes was found dead across the back of Tilikum one morning when the park was being opened. He was found with many wounds and punctures to his body, his autopsy showed he had a profound death of drowning. The last occurrence happened February 24th, 2010 when Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer was pulled into the water by Tilikum, who had her ponytail in his mouth. The death of Dawn Brancheau concluded that she was killed by blunt force trauma and being drowned. “Tilikum (orca)”. By levels of stress being strained, different animals take out stress

differently.
The opening of SeaWorld has brought up many opportunities for people such as but not limited to: an exceptional education about the husbandry and care for animals, breeding programs, and research values. These opportunities come from seeing and working with the animals up close. With animals being held at Seaworld, many people would never be able to witness how these animals truly thrive. SeaWorld parks being open entertains and educates people about the animals and the ecosystems they live in. A study has shown that ninety-three percent of people that visit a marine zoological park or aquarium were “inspired by conservation action” (“Benefits of Animal Training”). Through the education that comes with seeing the animals up close, also creates an opportunity of an experience that nobody could receive from opening a book. Every month, routine medical examinations are inspected on each of the animals to make sure they are in good health, something that is not possible to be detected in the wild. With such detailed examinations taken from each of the check ups, leads to people knowing more about such magnificent animals. When breeding whales in captivity, we are able to closely watch the animal’s health when becoming impregnated. By SeaWorld watching the animals closely leads them to an overall healthier genetically diverse population of orca whales. With our breeding knowledge, we’re also able to breed endangered animals in order to create a bigger population of the animals. With that in mind, our research values have been very beneficial for our animals, and other people to study up on. According to a study, researchers were able to conduct a study about vocal departments of orca whale calves. It was proven that orca whale babies learn how to vocalize from their mothers, in which they are passed on to future generations. With these points shown in the care of the orcas, encourages on how SeaWorld is such an exceptional opportunity for people to experience.
As a small child, SeaWorld was the place I had always wanted to go. To experience the famous orca show up close was something I had always wanted to see. When I was seven, I remember traveling to California with my family and going to my first Shamu show. At the time, I remember seeing the show thinking it was magnificent. But looking back at the videos now on the show made me realize how many issues were present. When performing in the Shamu show, I witness different instances where the trainers told the orcas doing a trick, if not performed well enough, food was taken from them. The orcas also has problems with grinding against the bottom of the tanks, and their dorsal fins collapsed under the stress.
In conclusion, animal captivity is something that should be revisited. “Blackfish” was an exceptional documentary expressing the notorious orca whale, Tilikum, and his harsh involvement with animal captivity that he experienced for over thirty years. From the flipped dorsal fin to the three deaths of trainers shows the overall physical and mental abuse the animals endure.