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Blackfish By Gabriela Cowperthwaite

1137 Words5 Pages

Blackfish is a documentary directed by filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite in 2013. The documentary shares a story of an orca named Tilikum, who has killed three individuals while kept in captivity. This documentary uses footage to portray Tilikum as a killer whale that has not lived a pleasant life at SeaWorld, leaving the viewers feeling very emotional. What most people fail to understand is that Blackfish is mostly told by former SeaWorld trainers and does not provide balanced and accurate information. This documentary is propaganda, rather than an actual documentary; it manipulates the audience to believe that killer whales should not be kept in captivity, when they actually should. The documentary states that orca species are “amazingly …show more content…

In the documentary, a former SeaWorld trainer was interviewed. He stated that "in a reputable breeding program, rule number one is that you certainly would not breed an animal that has shown a history of aggression toward humans” (Blackfish). In this statement he is talking about how Tilikum is the most used whale towards the breeding program that takes place at SeaWorld. However, his statement is contradicting the films message, which is that killer whales only kill because they are psychologically impaired from being held captive. The trainer also states that an orca that is even more aggressive and tempered would have the best sperm in order to continue the breeding program. The trainer’s statement is not scientifically correct, because there is no such thing of a gene passing down that induces captive psychosis. All the statement does is make the audiences believe that it is true and make them think that SeaWorld is not doing a good job of taking care of the animals. Blackfish provides false facts for the lifespan of killer whales. The film states that killer whales can live …show more content…

Both genders are capable to reach sixty through ninety years of life. The false information that Blackfish is responsible for makes the audience believe that captivity is reducing the lifespan of killer whales by a dramatic amount. Many people believe that SeaWorld is just an entertainment park that looks to make its money. However, people fail to respect that SeaWorld provides conservation, rescue, and education towards all its animals. In the documentary there is no mention that SeaWorld helps conserve, rescue and provide education. “SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. Announced a commitment of $1.5 million over three years to partnership with The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Killer Whale Research and Conservation Program. SeaWorld’s $10 million pledge to fund research and conservation for killer whales in the wild is the largest private commitment of its kind “(SeaWorld Cares). The animal exhibits and shows are used to increase the knowledge of visitors in order to encourage them to care about all animals around the world. Visitors at SeaWorld have the option of enrolling into educational programs. These programs create a better understanding on how to protect the wildlife. Some perks are

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Blackfish, a documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, a historically observed impact of the captivity of killer whales. This Documentary focuses on the orca Tilikum, who was captured off the coast of Iceland. On February 21, 1991, Sealand trainer Keltie Byrne fell into the pool with Tilikum. She was pulled to the bottom by Tilikum, tossed around, and drowned. It took Sealand employees two hours to recover her.

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Director, writer, and producer, Gabriella Cowperthwaite, in her documentary, Blackfish, describes the shameless hunting and treatment of killer whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to persuade us into opening our eyes to the reality of what we are doing to killer whales by confining them in captivity. She invents an emotionally wrenching tone in order to transmit to the adult viewers that living in captivity may not be acceptable life for the whales. The film effectively showed that the whales should not be kept in captivity by giving the audience examples of their signs of aggression and displays of emotion. Cowperthwaite begins her documentary by showing how killer whales can become barbaric when held captive.

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In Blackfish, one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite asserts that the inhumane practice of keeping killer whales in captivity is not the right thing to do. They are animals and they like to be open and free. Keeping killer whales in captivity is dangerous to the animals themselves, it makes them more aggressive, and also has the potential to harm and even kill the humans who work with them. Orcas are simply not meant for confinement. They are very calm and happy when they are in the ocean.

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1061 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout this there were a lot of events that happened, but the one that surprised everyone was the death of Dawn Brancheau. She was a trainer at SeaWorld for a long time, so people believed that she had a close bond to the orcas. The day of the accident tourist said that the whales seemed agitated and they weren't cooperating. Although they seemed a little off, she still did the show, but when she had "quiet time" with Tilikum he grabbed her forearm and basically mutilated Dawn. SeaWorld still wouldn’t say anything and continued to blame it on unprepared trainers.

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

Tilikum was not the only orca mentioned in the documentary but since he is well known (because of SeaWorld) caught they eye of many. Former Sealand trainers interviewed say that the park’s female killer whales would aggressively gang up on Tilikum especially when they were confined in a 20-foot-by- 30-foot pool overnight (Halverstadt). Aggressive behaviors has led to three deaths by Tilikum. Many say that this behavior comes from a aggressive side of Tilikum that is a side that doesn’t want to hurt anyone but has such a anger because he is being held captive. To be taken out of your water and away from your normal everyday living is very disturbing but what causes lots of emotions to go up is when we see that orcas are getting separated from other orcas they have lived with their entire lives or even birthed.

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1452 Words | 6 Pages

Attention Getter - How many of you have heard of the documentary, Blackfish? This documentary released in 2013 “focuses on Tilikum, an orca whale held by SeaWorld, and the controversy over captive whales”, according to wikipedia.org/blackfish. It goes behind the scenes of the glorified water shows to expose the truth on how these whales are treated. According to www.care2.com, “SeaWorld stated it spends 70$ million on its orca facilities every year, but a tank is still a tank and no amount of money can turn a tank into an ocean.” Reason to Listen - Imagine being put up for display like the orca whales showcased in this recently publicized documentary.

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1143 Words | 5 Pages

In 2013, the documentary called Blackfish was released, a story about a killer whale that over the years at SeaWorld killed several people. It highlighted some of the major problems with animals in captivity. SeaWorld, known for having several different animal attractions; Dolphin Cove, Dolphin Nursery, Orca Underwater Viewing, Shark Encounter, Wild Arctic (Habitat) and many more. The organization first started with the intention of learning more about animals in order to educate the public about different behaviors of each animal. Trainers at Seaworld are offered the opportunity to get hands-on training with animals and are eventually are allowed to entertain the public with the skills they have acquired.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

In conclusion Blackfish is gives audiences a shocking, aggressive and deeply compelling look into cruel practices of marine parks for decades that will change the way you look at captive/trained killer whales and other animals. In watching this documentary has significantly opened my eyes regarding the brutal treatment and methods of capturing wild animals giving me a greater sympathy for orcas in parks such as SeaWorld. This startling documentary will surprise audiences as Cowperthwaite is unrelenting in showing the fatal consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity while also critiquing of the cruel and immoral practises of

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1140 Words | 5 Pages

Andre Cole Ricardo Acosta G. English 101 September 22, 2015 Do Killer Whales Actually Belong in Captivity? Ever since wild animals such as Killer Whales have been captured and kept in theme parks and zoos as amusement, there have been issues on whether they should or shouldn’t be kept in captivity. Killer Whales, otherwise commonly referred to as Orcas, have regularly been taken away from the sea at a very young age so they can be trained, raised and kept in theme parks for exhibition. Although theme parks no longer capture whales from the wild, they are still bred in captivity for public display at marine parks such as Sea World (Gorman).

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1249 Words | 5 Pages

The target audience of this documentary is the general public that includes a big emphasis on the customers of SeaWorld. The filmmakers are trying to inform the public of the inhumane treatment and the conditions that the orcas face while at amusements parks such as SeaWorld. As described in the film, orcas are seen as intellectual animals that are aware of their surroundings. Because of their intellect, orcas don’t belong in a place SeaWorld and should be released.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

In 2013, a documentary called Blackfish was released to the public. This film was produced, written, and directed by a lady named Gabriela Cowperthwaite, as a way to show the world how poorly whales are treated and why they do not belong in captivity. Blackfish also shows how little people really know about the beautiful and highly intelligent orca whale itself. Her film was seen by many, and touched the hearts of a lot people, taking the debate of the topic to a higher level. The movie hits on a lot of main issues about captivity, told by reliable people, along with proven statistics to go along with them.

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727 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore, this can be the cause of all the incidence including to what happened to Dawn Brancheau who was completely mutilated by a whale. Despite the interview with a former trainer, from a document which was published after the release of Blackfish by SeaWorld to object

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747 Words | 3 Pages

Do you remember that day that you and your family took a trip to that one park? That one that you got to see many different types of sea animals, dolphins putting on shows, and getting to even interact with the sea animals in a great learning experience. That park is SeaWorld. When you were there, you might have not noticed the stuff that was happening behind the scenes. Lately, the animals have been very sad and not living healthy lives.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

Orcas are incredibly smart, so the mother orcas would swim away from where the herding was happening. As a result to this, SeaWorld began releasing planes that would fly over the sea and find the mothers, because the orcas had to come up for air eventually. They would throw bombs into the water, so the orcas would be forced to go into nets. One of the whales, named Tilikum, who recently died in January of 2017, was kidnapped from the ocean at the young age of two. A man named Ted Griffin, who helped capture the whales, killed a mother whale in front of her daughter, to later be named Shamu; the first performing whale at SeaWorld.

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1540 Words | 7 Pages

SeaWorld has been in the spotlight for several years now. Whether it is negative or positive publicity, someone is talking about SeaWorld; from the new animal births at their facility, killer whales attacking their trainer and the sudden unexplainable deaths of many of their animals. In 2013 the documentary “Blackfish” explained how SeaWorld’s animals and staff are really treated. Since the release of Blackfish, SeaWorld’s image and attendance has gone down the drain. SeaWorld San Diego’s attendance is down 12% and SeaWorld Orlando is down 8% (Weisberg, 2015).

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