Argumentative Essay On Blackfish

Blackfish is a documentary written about the cruel way the killer whales are treated in SeaWorld. The documentary explains the circumstances in which the killer whales are caught, and the small spaces these huge animals are allowed to live in, which leads to short life span and aggravated behaviors of the otherwise gentle Orcas. The maltreatment is believed to have led the death of several trainers in Canada, America, and Spain, as the killer whales grew increasingly agitated with their conditions. A good documentary film must have a captivating storyline, real interviews, facts and statistics to back up claims, and actual footage. There are several documentaries being released on a weekly basis, in which "claims," are made but later repealed.

The documentary film entitled Blackfish, is a successful documentary, which captivates the audience through empirical evidence, captivating plot, and real life interviews. The blackfish documentary started out with a gripping testimonial from several men who had admitted to hunting killer whales for seaworld. Through their heartbreaking testimonies, it was revealed that they would go out on large ships and produce large nets in order to trap them then reel them in. Even worse, the orcas would begin crying, making high pitched screams at the loss of their loved ones. After only a couple seasons of orca hunting, the orcas began to realize what was happening and concocted a plan. The adults would distract the fishermen and take them to a deadend cove while the younger babies would escape into the ocean. The pure shock factor of the beginning of the documentary, as well as the realization of how smart the orcas truly are, held my

Some critics may also not like that the documentary seemed to primarily focus of the attacks against trainers, instead of the maltreatment of the animals, in order to induce more of a shock factor. I feel that it's true, most of the interviews held with former employers were subjective, and emotion filled, although I feel that this only added to the powerfulness of the documentary. Having former employees, as well as witnesses appealed to the audience more and, if anything, made the documentary more interesting. There were two personal interviews from former employees who recounted their admiration of Dawn, a trainer, who had been drowned by the Orca, Tilikum. They insisted that all precautions necessary had been taken, and that Seaworld was lying in their court case against OSHA. Their tears and memories, although subjective, proved their devotion of the animals as well their apprehension for working at seaworld. I feel that Blackfish balanced the information it held between the maltreatment of the animals as well as the consequences it had against trainers who were injured or even killed in the handling of the animals at Seaworld. The documentary is only 1 hour and 30 minutes long, and I feel that the producers used every minute as effectively as possible in