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Blackfish documentary essay
Blackfish documentary essay
Orca captivity
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Blackfish documentary essay
Blackfish documentary essay
Orca captivity
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Recommended: Blackfish documentary essay
Another example of imagery in the documentary is when a man died at SeaWorld, “…there was Tilikum with a dead guy, a dead naked guy on his back, kind of parading him around the back pool…Tilikum stripped him, bit off his genitals. There were bite marks all over his body.” These gruesome illustrations drive home the point that keeping animals in captivity can be harmful to them and humans. These examples use the rhetorical strategy of pathos, appealing to the emotions of sympathy and fear.
The continuous telling of tall tales in regard to the reality of the attack is more evidence that the attack was something of concern. It wasn’t so hard for police and trainers to blame the attack on Dawn when she was no longer alive to protect and defend herself. One of the professionals from the film said that all whales in captivity are emotionally destroyed and physically traumatized. The evidence given in the documentary shows this to be true. One of the other speakers in the documentary was talking about how Tilikum is not killing to be a savage; he is killing because he is frustrated.
Unlike in the wild, where orcas tend to avoid human interaction, there have been dozens of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving captive orcas and humans. The most famous example of this features the largest captive orca in history, Tilikum, who was initially owned by Sealand in Victoria, B.C, before being sold to SeaWorld for their breeding program. Over the course of his life, he directly caused the deaths of three humans: two trainers, Keltie Byrne and Dawn Brancheau, and one trespassing man, Daniel P. Dukes. The most well-known of the three deaths, Dawn Brancheau, was witnessed by a live audience during a SeaWorld Orlando show in 2010, during which she had been suddenly yanked into the water by Tillikum, who not only scalped her and tore off her arm, but also refused to release her body for nearly an hour. Years of abuse and mistreatment had accumulated to anger and exhaustion in the orca, and eventually, he snapped and lunged towards the closest human, who unfortunately happened to be Dawn.
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.
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.
In SeaWorld they didn't treat him any different, the whales still abused him, he didn't get fed if he didn't do trick properly and they abused him for his sperm. Since the other whales abused him Tillikum was put into a separate tank. The other whales did not only abuse Tillikum, there were other whale incidents where an orca killed another orca. In the wild if there's any tension between two orca's they have thousands of square miles to exit the scene, but in captivity they don't have the privilege of that. Tillikum's trainers said that he was very happy to see people during shows, this could of been because he was lonely.
Over the years there has been controversies with the way SeaWorld treat the animals and the type of behaviors animals portray as a result of its enclosures. SeaWorld's defense of capturing
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
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.
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
“Blackfish” Animals and their trainers always became a major part of the performance, and marine creatures were not an exception. However, such “human-animal” collaboration often created both ethical and security issues. The documentary Blackfish demonstrates this combination and covers such topics as: is it dangerous to work with orca, and does these animals suffer because of their life in amusement parks? The answer is “yes” for both questions. The documentary also shows that administrations often covered up an information about the danger level of orcas (even from trainers) to continue to profit by them as actors or inseminators.
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.
But children are blind to this fact, as SeaWorld is a corrupt organization that is excellent at covering up their unfair treatment, such as abuse, kidnapping animals, and deaths. SeaWorld has been proven to abuse their animals. Imagine living in a bathtub your whole life; that’s the size that tanks feel to
While whales are stuck in prison Seaworld is getting
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).