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Orca's Behavior Change In Seaworld

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SeaWorld is one of the most visited amusement parks in the United States where families are able to get together and see animals and their trainers perform incredible stunts. However, SeaWorld has been under the flame after the public opinion of SeaWorld drastically changed after the release of the movie Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite in 2012. The documentary Blackfish helped exposed people to the reality of what was really going on behind the scenes at SeaWorld, with everything including their trainers to the overall well-being of the orca whales. Not only has Blackfish exposed how SeaWorld has shortened the lifespan of orcas in captivity, but it shined some light on how the orcas were living, how the orca’s behavior changed, how trainers …show more content…

“Tilikum” SeaWorld 's largest orca, is responsible for the deaths of three trainers, which all three deaths could have been prevented if SeaWorld would have recognized the behavior change in Tilikum. The most recent death to occur was Dawn Brancheau, where Tilikum “scalped and dismembered Dawn as well as breaking bones throughout her body before drowning her.” (Prothero) Since Tilikum was the biggest orca in captivity, he need the most space which led to SeaWorld isolating Tilikum into his own tank. This may have looked like a great idea on paper but because of his isolation Tilikum was literally going psychotic. “Stress of captivity drives Tilikum to exhibit abnormal repetitive behavior, including chewing on metal gates and the concrete sides of his tank—so much so that the most of his teeth are completely worn down.” (Prothero) This stress caused Tilikum to exert aggression to other orcas when let out but also toward trainers. Because SeaWorld failed to recognize the abnormal behavior in Tilikum which ultimately led to the death of Dawn Brancheau and many …show more content…

Jim Atchison who served as the CEO and president of SeaWorld since 2009 stepped down after the release of the documentary. Another effect was that Blackfish was it got many people to stop from going to SeaWorld parks. “Attendance to the company’s 11 parks between October and December fell 2.2 percent to 4.4 million from 4.5 million in the same period a year ago.” (Blackfish Effect) Not only did the CEO step down and the number of visitors decreased but, SeaWorld took a $24.5 million dollar drop in profit because of decreasing attendance at their

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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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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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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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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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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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That’s so crazy! Some people like to think that if SeaWorld has to close down, then so should the zoo. But that is really different, at the zoo no know has been hurt by an animal (at least I don’t think so), but at SeaWorld they have been many death occurred, because kids think it is safe for them to touch the animals, plus while training the orcas killed the trainers. “Orcas in the wild have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years—their estimated maximum lifespan is 60 to 70 years for males and 80 to over 100 for females. The average age of death for orcas who have died at SeaWorld is 13 years old,” by SeaWorldog Hunt.

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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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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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It 's clear that the living conditions that these animals are forced to live in are just plain unethical, but something even worse is the relationship between animals in captivity and a spike in their stress levels. “It 's irrefutable that many zoos drive animals insane -- and if that isn 't cruel, I don 't know what is” (Masci) For starters, SeaWorld is one of the most notorious places in the world accused of stressing out their animals. Since the tanks are so small the whales tend to get very stressed out, and some former workers even say that the whales seem to go psychotic. “ If you were on a bathtub for 25 years, don 't you think you get a little irritated, aggravated, maybe a little psychotic ” (“Blackfish”)? A clear example is when one of the

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