As a Seaworld season pass holder for several years now, I was naturally interested in seeing the much discussed documentary “Blackfish.” For those of you who are not aware of the film, it is a scathing look at 39 years of keeping orcas (killer whales) captive for human amusement. Seaworld also claims it is for education, research and conservation. I think there is truth to all of those reasons, but primarily it is because the orcas are the main attraction for a multi-million dollar industry.
Using the 2010 killing of trainer Dawn Brancheau by Tilikum the killer whale at the Orlando Seaworld park as its starting (and ending) point, the film then covers in detail the history, ethics and dangers of keeping the ocean’s apex predators (even higher on the food chain than Great White sharks) in concrete pools and teaching them to do tricks for food.
Some of this, I think, is common sense. Anyone somewhat sensitive to animal rights that visits one of Seaworld’s parks has to look at the size of these whales and where they are kept and see that there is something wrong. As much as I have enjoyed visiting Seaworld and I still am awed when I see the orcas up close, it has always bothered me. For a creature that can travel over 100 miles a day in the open ocean, these whales spend their entire lives in the equivalent of a one-bedroom apartment.
I can also see Seaworld’s argument. Although they did not participate in “Blackfish” (all of the trainers interviewed in the film are “former” trainers, so we do not know all of the bones they may have to pick with the company), Seaworld has since commented and presented their side of the issue in the face of the firestorm that has resulted from this pretty remarkable film. Seaworld does indeed promote education and they push their message of conservation hard and I believe that it is sincere. They also are active in many ocean rescue operations. Seaworld sends its specialists to coasts all over the country to assist in animal beaching incidents, animals in distress, etc. They do real and substantial work in these areas, and are responsible for the rehab and then re-release of hundreds of animals a year. They also display majestic creatures that have complex emotions and are highly intelligent in a way that can only be described as cruel and unethical.
There are some scenes that are really hard to watch. The toughest scenes deal with separating mother orcas from their babies. They interview this great, grizzled ocean adventurer who had been involved in the early cowboy days of the 70’s when Seaworld hired these guys to go out and capture the first batch of Seaworld whales on the open seas (now most of the new whales are born in captivity). They targeted the babies and took them from their mothers. This guy, who talked about participating in revolutions in Africa and South America and admitted to being involved in some “shady” things in those revolutions, said that the capturing of the baby whales was the worst thing he had ever done or witnessed. This grizzled mercenary is in tears talking about the cries from the whales in the water once the babies are captured and taken away to a life in the concrete pools of Seaworld.
The most emotional moments deal with the treatment of the whales themselves, not so much these fatal and near fatal incidents with trainers. The ex-trainers they interview seem to be smart people, yet they claim that they were surprised that the whales turned on them (also note that they have performed many times a day for decades, and there are only a handful of these attacks). As I stated at the beginning, these are apex predators. Have you ever seen footage of these whales attacking seals? How could it make sense to get in the water with them? And these are highly intelligent creatures. One of the saddest aspects about this is the intense boredom and lack of stimulation for the whales. That probably explains much of their abnormal and sometimes aggressive behavior.
I think the most fascinating sequence in the film dealt with a trainer who actually survived his ordeal. They have the footage, and this guy is a badass. The whale grabbed his foot and dragged him under. It took him all the way to the bottom of the deep pool, held him there, and then brought him back up to breathe. Then it brought him down again. And again. It knew how long it could keep him under. The trainer didn’t panic, talking to the whale and stroking it whenever they were on the surface. Eventually it let him go, and he swam like mad to the side. The whale turned around to chase and he barely got out.
They live about a third of the lifespan in captivity that they do in the wild. Tilikum, the male that they focus on for much of the film, has been involved with three human deaths so far. Two trainers and in a mysterious case, some mentally ill man who apparently hid in the park until after closing and got in the tank to commune with the whales. Tilikum is still performing in Orlando. After Brancheau’s death, OSHA filed a successful suit against Seaworld to keep the trainers separated by some sort of barrier from the whales. If you attended Seaworld pre-2010 vs. now, it is a very different show. Not nearly as exciting, but also a lot safer for the trainers. Seaworld is appealing to get the trainers back in the water to ride the whales. Tilikum’s value is mainly in breeding. They use him to make baby Shamus, and about half of the captive orcas in the world are related Tilikum.
It is an emotional and powerful film. The question arises, of course, do I still go to Seaworld? Do I still take my children there? Do I teach them it is the norm to keep these whales in captivity? My daughter loves it, and I have to admit from a selfish perspective, it is an experience to get so close to killer whales. But at what cost? Is this barbaric? Seaworld’s position is that the whales are happy and taken care of. At some level I am sure they believe it. But the evidence, and common sense, suggest otherwise. My daughter loves it there, I really enjoy it as well. Also, Seaworld is much more than killer whales and other sea creatures. It is an amusement park with roller coasters and rides and it is a huge waterpark. The last three or four times we have been, we haven’t even gone to see the killer whales. But is not going to the shows enough? We are still spending a lot of money at the park, funding their activities. I feel like in one respect I should be principled and not support their company, but it is also a fantastic entertainment product. And they also do some real good as well.
Funny enough, we were there this weekend. My college’s alumni organization put together a behind the scenes tour. They took us back to some restricted areas where they rehab animals. We got to get quite up close with some dolphins that seemed to be taking genuine delight in splashing us with water. The tour guide told us it was OK to take pictures back there, but asked us not to take pictures of animals through any gates (to be fair, there were only a few gates, most of the pools were open for the dolphins to swim freely). They didn’t want photos of dolphins with gates in front of them floating around. “You know, ‘Blackfish’ and all of that,” he said.
“Blackfish”: **** out of *****
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