Dear Mr Jacobs, How could you abduct an innocent 2 year old from his mother? I would never be able to separate a family. But it seems this was never an issue for Seaworld your so called ‘family friendly company’. If this was a human being, there would have been numerous lawsuits, police officers and detectives trying to solve the mystery to reunite the child to its family. However, this devastatingly tragic issue had been concealed away from the public until the documentary Blackfish came to our screens. The documentary made myself and many others question the morality Sea World has. You were given another chance from the public but in your interview with CNN in regarding the documentary you twisted the truth yet again. To begin with, you made an absurd comment quoting ‘’The film fails to mention SeaWorld’s commitment to the safety of its team members and guests and to the care and welfare of animals’’. First of all, I define a team as a group of people who support each other to achieve an aim, not a manipulative organization which threatens its staff from speaking the truth. Worst of all you make your staff kidnap orcas and force them into doing inane circus acts while caging them up in cells. On top of that, the documentary went out of its way and contacted you various times but you had rejected all of the offers to be involved in the process. …show more content…
As orcas in the wild eat an estimate of 375 pounds of various types of animals including leatherback sea turtles, dugongs, moose, penguins and other seabirds. On the other hand, the robotic orcas in your tanks, eat 150-300 pounds of refrozen fish. This minimizes food options and gives the orcas diet a nutritional limit. But even worse your well trained staff who are famous to obey your orders provide on average 80 pounds of gelatin which is used to combat dehydration which you clearly stated they got enough in their captive safe
The trainers, along with Cowperthwaite, believe having them in a captivity like SeaWorld is inhumane. I agree with this documentary, Blackfish. This documentary gave a perfect visual representation of why I do not like having animals in a cage or in a small area. Having animals captive, working hard, and hardly fed is wrong, especially when only allowing them in a small area to roam. Watching this documentary made me feel sympathy towards these poor animals that must go through this harsh life style.
SeaWorld also claims that the whales being kept there are treated humanely and are in no way unhappy. Although Cowperthwaite’s film clearly explains that that is a far cry from the truth with many trainers saying that the whales were often bullied by others which left them with painful rake marks that are created by teeth scraping against the whales skin. If whales did not perform a trick properly they would not be given food which left the whales hungry and extremely agitated. Behind the scenes footages shows whales being attacked by others with one whale even breaking its own jaw which led to an artery becoming severed and the bled out and died shortly after.
Second reason why they shouldn’t be kept in a captivity. You can’t recreate on orcas natural environment. The pods sea world cannot hold 40 or more whales which are usually in a pod. If it holds 40 orcas they will make more babies and after their gonna be so much whales and the water won’t hold that much whales. Because whales are the size of bus school and is just like 40 bus
The film Blackfish, a documentary created by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a film about the cruel punishment of killer whales at SeaWorld. It suggests that killer whales should be set free from captivity in marine mammal parks because of the threat and danger towards humans and each other. Blackfish is an explicit example of how logos, ethos and pathos are used to create an argument that is impressive, valid and effective. After watching Blackfish, if you could only take one thing from the film it should have been that orcas are being kept in captivity under cruel conditions for the sole purpose of their investments and profits off of them.
Out of the 156 whales they have taken into captivity from the wild, 129 are dead. Including orcas bred within SeaWorld, at least 165 have died in their facilities (Schelling). Another falsehood SeaWorld claims is that collapsed dorsal fins are completely normal and common of all male orcas. It is actually quite rare to find in the wild, while every single one of their male whales has a collapsed dorsal fin (“8 Shocking Facts…”). SeaWorld also guarantees that they never separate a calf from its mother and even have posted a picture of a baby and its mother as proof. What they didn’t tell the public was that soon after that picture was posted they shipped the calf off to Spain alone to a different park. A past trainer even said that there had been at least 19 separations of mother and calf that he knew of at his location. All of these factors previously stated added up have a large influence on the whales mentally. Many whales are afflicted by psychosis and anxiety and in turn are given drugs such as Valium to keep them performing in shows. There have been various occasions, often swept under the rug by SeaWorld and away from the public eye, where the drugs didn’t work enough (Schelling). There
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?
John Crowe, one of the hunters, is interviewed and tells the story of “the worst thing he’s ever done”. He appeals to the appalled emotions of the audience by admitting to the inhumane way they captured the baby whales. He uses an analogy when discussing the capturing, claiming it was like “kidnapping a kid from its mother”, which pulls at the heartstrings of any parent watching the film, establishing a sense of relatability. The film uses juxtaposition by examining how Crowe, a tough looking man, can be brought to tears by this horrific act. Blackfish then moves to discussing the reason behind Tilikum’s outburst by running a montage of news reports ambushing SeaWorld on the inhumane treatment of whales. The use of the rhetorical question “If you were in a bathtub for 25 years don’t you think you’d get a little irritated, aggravated, maybe a little psychotic?”, grabs the audience’s attention by creating a scenario they can understand. These events create an accusing tone that convinces the audience that SeaWorld is the antagonist of the film. Along with accusations from reporters, SeaWorld has fought many lawsuits against OSHA- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, due to the way SeaWorld treats their animals. A court hearing is held regarding Tilikum’s behaviour due to pulled video footage of Tilikum lunging towards one of the trainers
It all began with good intentions. People thinking that they can control these animals and not expect any negative impacts. It was all due to wanting to explore and entertain with the animals. However, not all animals are meant to be taken from the wild to be show animals. After many years of unfair ways, SeaWorld is doing the right thing by closing down the whale exhibit even if it isn’t by choice because it is unhealthy for both the humans and animals involved.
Some argue SeaWorld is not a problem, because it is good enough for research, because SeaWorld gives them protection from the outside world where they wouldn’t survive as long, or that being kept in a pool simply doesn’t affect them physically or mentally. SeaWorld is inhumane to Orcas. They do not take care of their physical or mental health, it causes the animals stress and anxiety, and causes them to be aggressive, leading to deathly situations. SeaWorld’s biggest pool is forty feet deep, which may seem large to us, but not when you’re a twenty foot whale that is used to swimming hundreds of miles a day. Keeping Orcas in captivity is not in any way good for their physical or mental health.
“Blackfish” has had people thinking about the tragic events happening at SeaWorld and the reasons behind it. SeaWorld tried to cover up the deaths of trainers but, there are always people that find out the truth. The trainers who
The most effective piece of this documentary, however, was neither the structure of the film nor the specific questions that one is forced to answer regarding the ethical treatment of these killer whales, but the overall questions of whether or not these corporations should be allowed to continue their cycle of abuse toward the animals and whether or not we, as patrons, should encourage their behavior by giving them a monetary profit every day, every month, and every year. Ignorance is forgivable, but with the knowledge given in this documentary: the final two questions raised should be able to answer themselves.
On February 24, 2010, this incident was a reality. The death of Dawn Brancheau occurred during Shamu show. Imagine what is was like for the Orca. I wonder how the Orca felt. If I was the Orca, I wouldn't feel bad for the trainer at all. Why? Because swimming with your mom shouldn't result in having to be forced to do tricks which ends with a crowd of high-pitched shrills. This is why believe that Seaworld isn't treating their Orca's very fairly.
"Blackfish" might not make an airtight case against training wild animals for our enjoyment, but it very convincingly argues that those animals remain what they are, no matter how SeaWorld or any other corporation invested in presenting them as cuddly attractions tries to say otherwise.
"Pro and Con Captivity for Orcas in Sea World." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .
Just take into consideration what happens when you are stuck in the same room with someone for a long period of time, especially at the end of a bad day. Who’s to say that they don’t feel the same way, but as long as Sea World is making money, then who cares, right? Sea World has ten captive Orcas, seven of which were born in captivity and it is said that they wouldn’t survive in the open ocean. This wouldn’t be a problem if you wouldn’t have taken their parents out of the ocean and left them to do things on their own in the first place. Sea World claims that they “couldn’t love their animals any more”.