The Overview Of The Seatold: The Truth Behind Seaworld

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Autumn Amick
Ms. Russell
Advanced Compostion
19 March 2014
The Truth Behind SeaWorld
On March 21, 1964, four UCLA students’ dream came to life when their marine park, SeaWorld, opened in San Diego, California. Once the park’s popularity increased, the SeaWorld brand began to expand their locations and their sea life, thus introducing killer whales to the park. Since the park opening in 1964, SeaWorld has become one of the largest visited theme parks in the United States and is loved by children and adults alike. However, SeaWorld has been under speculation since a recent killer whale attack and the release of the documentary film, ‘Blackfish’ causing SeaWorld to suffer from the accusations.
In 2013, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary, ‘Blackfish’ was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. The film featured a SeaWorld killer whale, Tilikium, and his involvement in three deaths that were claimed to be “accidents.” Former SeaWorld trainers were interviewed in the film and shared their recollection of events and how little was told to them by the parks. The film received most of its attention when the CNN network introduced the documentary. SeaWorld responded to the film by stating that the film was “inaccurate and misleading.”
Tilikium has been in captivity since 1983, when he was captured outside of Iceland. Since then, Tilikium has experienced harsh conditions during transportation to and from parks and during his time at Sealand Canada. After Tilikium’s first attack, Sealand shut down and put Tilikium up for sale. SeaWorld found Tilikium’s large size, 12,000 lb, appealing and purchased him with the intent to use him in their breeding program. Tilikium’s weight also allowed him to be used for the “big splash” portion of ...

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...le Attack at SeaWorld: How It Happened.” Time U.S. 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 5 March 2014.
Kirby, David. Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2012. Print.
Kuo, Vivian. "Orca trainer saw best of Keiko, worst of Tilikum." CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. .
MacDonald, Elizabeth . "SeaWorld of Problems." Fox Business. N.p., 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. .
“SeaWorld defends itself against whale abuse charges.” Fox 5 San Diego.N.P. 20 Dec. 2013. Web. 07 March 2014.

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