In 2010, a well-known trainer of SeaWorld Orlando, Dawn Brancheau was murdered during a performance with Tilikum the orca in front of an audience. Blackfish claims the incident was caused from anger, although, SeaWorld claims the accident was due to trainer error. Psychologist explains how humans could also become mentally ill if one was to live in a crowded bathtub for an extensive period of time. Blackfish predicts the reason behind Tilikum’s bizarre outbreak with Brancheau was because he had grown mentally unstable and furious due to his captivity. It is said if the orcas have a healthy mind and body, they will hold a more cheery lifestyle. SeaWorld believes stunt training the orcas help achieve exercises for their minds as well as keeping
She was the first to have been killed because of Tilikum’s stress, frustration, and confinement. Sea Land of the Pacific in Victoria, Canada and SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida tries to explain Tilikum’s aggressive behavior as a result of his restricted life in the marine parks. this topic will soon becomes the documentaries biggest claim. supporting this, Blackfish sets up
Blackfish written by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. From the start attraction at Sealand of the Pacific in 1969, the aquarium grew attention for their orcas that would perform. Years later a two year old whale was captured and arrived in 81’. His name was Tilikum, coming in at two years old and 4,000 pounds. How do you go about taking orcas out of their setting, changing how they feel, and go about certain lies of how situations occurred?
To the audience they seem to be friendly animals, quite intelligent, even playful. However, the film shows that they were completely the opposite. It informed the viewers on the inhumane treatment and unlivable conditions of whales at amusement parks such as SeaWorld. The film focuses on the life of Tilikum, an orca who was captured in 1983 from the coast of Iceland. Blackfish also attempts to depict the horrors of Tilikum’s life in captivity.
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.
Imagine, a 22.5 feet long killer whale that weighs 12,000 pounds, slammed and dragged a person in the water who only weighed 125 pounds. The image is gruesome but that’s what happened to SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. A respected 40 year old who fought hard to stay alive against the largest orca in captivity. Accordingly to witnesses Tili (short for Tilikium), the Orca went wild during the Dine with Shamu Show, then attacked and killed Dawn. The event shocked everyone because Orcas are usually very friendly but Dawn Brancheau was the third victim of Tilikium.
For example, when an orca gets hungry it no longer has the ability to swim and search for it's own food. In captivity orcas must learn to rely completely on their trainers, an instinct that does not naturally exist in an orcas brain. Due to the fact that the trainers need the orcas to trust them, they make sure to only give the orcas food after they have performed a task, or have just completed a show. While watching the orcas perform, it can be noted that most of the orcas dorsal fins manage to not stand up straight. In the wild, less than five percent of the orca population struggles with a collapsed dorsal fin.
Aside from the otters, dolphins, and seals there are Shamus that are being taken out of their natural habitats. When this happens it causes unnecessary mental stress which can cause deaths of Shamus or trainers. For example, a notorious Shamu named Tilikum just recently died in captivity January 6, 2017. Tilikum was involved in the death of three people: a trainer at the now-defunct Sealand of the Pacific, a man trespassing in SeaWorld Orlando, and a Seaworld Orlando trainer. This is what happens when animals are held in a small confined area.
For years people have been captured by the beauty and grace of Orca whales. SeaWorld is a big reason for this love to watch the whales before. There they have designated time slots where the whales and trainers come out and perform a show with several jumps as well as the animals will spray the surrounding audience. The whales and their trainers form a bonds with certain whales not all the whales get along with a person. A trainer from SeaWorld described it as signs that the whale would show to a certain person.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Animals and humans are constantly getting hurt for the purposes of entertainment. For example, in an article done by Sirs, it states, "In 2010, a trainer at the park named Dawn Brancheau was drowned in an accident. This happened when one of the park's orcas, also called killer whales, pulled her under the water" ("SIRS Discoverer"). In SeaWorld, there have been many reports on the concern for the safety of the trainers and orcas. Death is a price both humans and animals are paying for entertainment. "