Blackfish

Blackfish
 I ended up watching Blackfish, because, discussing the topic of SeaWorld and killer whales in captivity, I was very interested to learn about something I know nothing about. The documentary started off by playing recordings of calls made to the police from SeaWorld trainers the day that Dawn Brancheau was killed by Tilikum, the largest killer whale in captivity. This led to a chilling start to the documentary and immediately intrigued me to know more about the situation. The documentary then begins the tell the story not of just Tilikum, but of killer whale captivity from the very beginning. As the camera shows a group of hired divers hunting killer whales, which they were actually doing illegally for SeaWorld, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the orcas, as the divers separated the children from the mothers and lifted the huge orcas into a net as they literally cried out to their pack they were being taken from. I think this was a very important aspect for the documentary to show, as most people don't think about how the killer whales got to captivity, as it is something that doesn't sit well. The documentary then goes on to explain how killer whales are kept in captivity, showing that in the beginning when they were in SeaLand, they were shown as being kept in a large pool but were forced to sleep in a metal enclosure that was so small the orcas couldn't even move. The video then leads into the capture of Tilikum, and his life in enclosure. Tilikum was captured for the sole reason of mating. The documentary showed how Tilikum was treated in captivity, as he was often attacked by the female orcas to the point where he was covered in scratches and blood. This leads up to the first death caused by Tilikum, as he dragged a trainer underwater and drowned her. A main part of the documentary was accounts of former SeaWorld trainers, who all shared that when they were hired (with basically no prior experience), they had no idea of past incidents involving dangerous situations with orcas. As the trainers began to notice this, most shared that they only stayed in SeaWorld because they felt bad for Tilikum and wanted to help him. On the day that Dawn Brancheau was murdered, Dawn ran out of food to reward Tilikum with, which led to his strange behavior that the trainers observed. Tilikum was not rewarded for his work and was punished by not receiving food. Late in the routine, Tilikum grabbed Dawn's arm and dragged her underwater, appearing to eat her and mutilate her body. Of course, SeaWorld denied this and actually blamed Dawn for her own death, even though she was not there to defend herself and the autopsy report said otherwise. After Dawn's death, many of the trainers quit after SeaWorld lied and denied allegations against them. This documentary definitely discussed the theme of man vs. nature, as man tries to control nature and manipulates it to his own pleasure. What astounded me most about this documentary was how much SeaWorld lied about so many different facts. For instance, in addition to lying about danger with the killer whales, they also lied about the life span of killer whales, saying that in captivity the whales live longer than in the wild, as they live to be about 30 years old. However, studies show that in the wild, female killer whales live to be at least 100, and males about 60.  In addition to this, they denied having any connection to Loral Parque where a trainer was killed by a killer whale, even though SeaWorld trained and gave that killer whale to them. They also lied about the dorsal fin of the whales folding over, saying that it is natural in over 50% of killer whales(since all the killer whales in SeaWorld have it) , when in reality only 1% of wild orcas have that condition.  Honestly, I am disgusted at SeaWorld after watching this, as they lied about so many things and refuse to acknowledge the psychological trauma captivity causes to a killer whale. Even though the court ruled that trainers have to be separated by a barrier when training the animals from now on, SeaWorld is appealing this. This goes to show that SeaWorld only cares about money and finances, not even about the animals and the trainers. I would give Blackfish a 10 out of 10, as I believe  it is something that really gets the audience to think about social norms of animal captivity as well as it brings awareness to the cruel treatment of killer whales in captivity and SeaWorlds crimes.