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.
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. 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
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. As well as, SeaWorld’s money is dropping at a very fast rate. Seaworld should be closed to end the companies dropping of money completely, to let the animals’ live free lives, and to save the Orcas.
The movie Blackfish is a documentary about Orca whales and their abhorrent treatment throughout SeaWorld’s history, detailing how the whales should be freed from their enclosures and sent back into the oceans where they belong to protect not only themselves, but to the trainers and visitors of SeaWorld as well. Blackfish revolves around one Orca named Tilikum, at 12,000 pounds he was the dominant one at SeaWorld. However, Tilikum’s public murder of three trainers changed the way people looked at SeaWorld. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite released a documentary in 2013 titled Blackfish detailing SeaWorld’s horrific treatment of its marine animals, especially the Orcas, in captivity. Ms. Cowperthwaite’s vision of Blackfish entailed “reaching
Orcas were not the only animals at SeaWorld exhibiting aggressive behavior. Several instances have been documented in which dolphins have acted aggressively to both a SeaWorld trainer and SeaWorld patrons. According to USA Today’s article, “Captive animals ' attack on trainers and public” dolphins have engaged in aggressive behavior. “In 2000 a dolphin entangled a trainer in a net, spun her around and held her underwater during a dolphin capture exercise. The trainer suffered three factures and torn ligaments in her right arm. California’s OSHA investigated and fined the park $375. SeaWorld responded by changing the procedures for such exercises”. In 2006 two patrons were bit by dolphins at the Dolphin Cove exhibit. A dolphin bit a boy at the petting attraction while under the supervision of a SeaWorld Employee. Three weeks prior to this incident a six year old boy was also bitten at the same Dolphin Cove exhibit. OSHA did not present SeaWorld with a citation because no employees were injured in either situation. SeaWorld spokeswoman Becca Bides responded to the dolphin attack by stating that no changes would be made to the exhibit. The most recent incident involving a dolphin biting a patron occurred in 2012. According to CBS News article, “Girl Bitten While Feeing Dolphin at
There are a few breeds of whales that have been kept in captivity for too long. Many of their lives started in captivity and they are unable to make the transition back to their natural habitat. Some of them are kept in captivity because of injuries, for research, and even for entertainment. Whatever the reason for their captivity, they aren’t meant to be captive. Whales in captivity have become too much for humans to handle. Many of the pools that they are kept in are far to small to accommodate their need for exercise. The small pools can also cause a large amount of stress for these animals as well. Sometimes these animals, like dolphins, are kept in captivity for research. After being in captivity for too long
I believe that SeaWorld should close down because, animals are kept in captivity which is harmful to the orcas.True SeaWorld is a wonderful place to visit, it’s a great place to go and get entertained, but what you might not know is that it is hurting the animals. Keeping the orcas in tanks and cages is very dangerous because when they are let out, their could be very dangerous and can be very grumpy and aggressive. The truth is that the orcas are taken from the pod from the wild and are brought to the SeaWorld. Therefore, when they arrive at SeaWorld, they are expected to make friends with other orcas and become a pod. In my opinion that isn’t good because they have to learn to trust each other, even though they only know their one pod/family forever and having a new family is hard. Like think about it, would like to be taken from your family and be expected to make a new in a short
I believe keeping orcas in captivities is not humane .To keep orcas in a zoo for display is acceptable, but it is morally unacceptable to use them for entertainment at SeaWorld. I saw the film Blackfish and now, I resent SeaWorld. They care more about profit than animal welfare. Keeping these sentient animals in captivity for an extended period of time causes them severe psychological damage, as evidenced by several killer whale attacks on trainers. SeaWorld Entertainment has had a rough year in the wake of Blackfish, the explosive 2013 documentary about its killer whales, most notably Tilikum, a 12,500-pound male who has fatally attacked two trainers. The film sparked protests at SeaWorld’s three marine parks and attendance has been steadily
Marine parks in the country like SeaWorld, have orcas in tanks that they live in captivity. They use most of the killer whales for their performances in the pool. We all know that orcas are social, and intelligent creatures, that live in the oceans of the earth. We also know that many scientist are trying to study these animals in captivity where they are in tankes. I think Killer Whales should not be in captivity because, of the injures they can get in their tanks, how they get stressed out and they are better in the wild.
Blackfish (2013) is an American documentary film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and produced by Manuel V. Oteyza. The documentary primarily concerns the controversy of captured Killer Whales at the theme park Sea World, primarily that of Tilikum, an Orca responsible for the deaths of 2010 SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau and two other individuals. The documentary begins with this incident but goes as far back to the 1970 's show the audience how young Orcas are captured in the wild and taken from their families and natural environments. Since its release at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Blackfish has achieved both critical acclaim and caused controversy regarding SeaWorld 's treatment of its animals as well as retaliation from SeaWorld as to the legitimacy of the film 's claims.
A child 's face fills with excitement as they enter a huge building that largely proclaims a sign that says ´SeaWorld.´ The thrill of seeing animals that they don 't normally see fills the child to the brim. Their elated feelings rise as they walk into the Shamu Stadium, with an announcer welcoming them. They 're so happy that they don 't realize that they 're about to witness inhumane acts for entertainment. Sea World is an inhumane facility, and needs to be shut down. 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.
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). Sea World and other theme parks confine whales to tanks that, for them, are about the same size as a
In 2013, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directed the documentary Blackfish. This documentary is about Tilikum, an orca from SeaWorld that has taken the lives of many trainers. The documentary makes the claim that orcas should be freed from captivity. While in captivity they are causing harm to both themselves, humans, and the other orcas. Blackfish is a great example of an argument that can be rhetorically analyzed because it has pathos, ethos, and logos.
The documentary Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite released in July 2013, explores the mistreatment of killer whales and the relationship between the killer whales and trainers as well as the significant problems of the sea-park industry, with a focus upon SeaWorld. Cowperthwaite positions the audience to feel sympathy towards the killer whales by making deliberate choices in sound, visual, language, and structure through the representation of trainers as unprofessional, and whales as mistreated, also experts as reliable information source.
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). People want to see change; some have even suggested SeaWorld closing for good and releasing all the animals back into the wild. However, preparing the animals to be released is costly