What do you think about the doc
Sea World Orlando: It gives an argument against using killer whales for entertainment.
I haven't seen the movie, but I have seen clips; it has some valid points, but I love that show since I was a kid. For that reason I'm not sure if I want to see that doc.
From Chad H
Posted July 27, 2013 at 10:57 AM
What was the name of it again?
Black Fish.
From Tony Duda
Posted July 27, 2013 at 2:29 PM
I'm confused about something. At Miami Seaquarium there is an orca show that has the trainers still in the water with the orcas, even riding them and doing tricks with them (SeaWorld has been forced to stop these activities). However, SeaWorld seems to have every government agency and animal rights group up their blowhole. How come similar orca show places in the same state, Florida, have completely different government and activist reactions? If being in the water with orcas is inherently dangerous, why are other places not being restricted?
I'm totally against these shows...why I refuse to go to Seaworld or any similar park.
Read articles on the mass dolphin kills in Japan where in this particular village they corral dolphins into a cove and slaughter them...some they sell to exhibitors around the world for shows, etc. Seaworld used to source some of their animals from such suppliers.
They say they've stopped, but have never criticized the practice or called for a stop to it.
So I'm very dubious of Seaworld and parks like it.
They can argue education and conservancy, but the bottom line is they're a business and money is their ultimate priority, not the animals.
As somebody with a Animal Biology degree, I think this film is terrible. Are there abuses in the industry and is there room for improvement? Absolutely, and those items should be addressed, but the death of the Seaworld Trainer really has nothing to do with the capture or living conditions of Orcas.
I saw the guy who made this on Bill Maher a couple of weeks ago. He is a former trainer, but I felt he was very misleading and I believe, without Shamu, people really wouldn't give a care about Orcas/Killer Whales. The only thing he brought up, which I thought was a valid point if true, was that Seaworld does not consider their job "hazardous".
I also think that Seaworld is a very easy target and there are far worse Orca and animal abuses going on in the world than this chain of parks.
I agree with Anothny!
There are worse abuses with whales going on around the world. Sea World is not too much among them.
From Aaron M.
Posted July 29, 2013 at 12:37 PM
I also agree with Anthony. Someone had mentioned the Miami Seaquarium, I had visited that place last year after like ten years. Maybe a little more, I was seven I believe. But anyway, the way they keep the animals there is horrible. First of all the whole place smells of rotting fish (probably from the expired food they give the animals), They have two dolphin shows..with the same type of dolphins. One of the dolphin shows I went to, the dolphins were all crashing into each other. They had a tank holding about seven dolphins that could probably only hold comfortable about three...maybe. Then the whale... that poor whale is swimming in a bathtub with about 3 other dolphins. They had another whale but due to the size of the tank, while he was performing he hit his head against the side of the tank and died. The current whale is also a few feet bigger than the tank. I do no remember the trainers performing with any of the animals. Not only that but all the water was green and some of the tanks were even leaking. I'm sorry but I think more regional parks should be targeted instead of SeaWorld. I mean SeaWorld isn't perfect but come on..
First off, a guy did not make this film, it was a female director. The trainers featured in the film were all previous trainers who knew what was going on at SW was wrong. These are all intelligent people who have gone on to become doctors. Somebody mentioned that they didn't see a corralation between captivity and the death of a trainer? Seriously? These very social and intelligent beings are being driven to the point of psychosis because of these living conditions. Tilikum has almost zero stimulation in this environment. You don't think this deplorable existance lead to his behavior on the day that Dawn Bracheau was killed? If somebody took you away from your family and kept you locked in a room for your whole life with very little stimulation (think solitary confinement), you wouldn't find yourself psychologically damaged?
Believe me, I used to enjoy going to Seaworld and other parks that hold orcas hostage because I love orcas so much and I wanted to be close to them and enjoy their beauty, but now I am older and wiser, and there is so much more information out there that people know the truth behind the happy "facade" of the shamu "smile". I was actually going to be an orca trainer and went to college to major in Zoology and Marine Biology, but I changed my mind because I didn't think holding large marine mammals such as orcas was ethical.
Anyone who watches this documentary and still thinks Seaworld is such a wonderful caring organization is lying to themselves, or completely blind. Even my 5 year old son understand that keeping orcas captive is wrong.
Seaworld is a multi million dollar business, in the business of making money, there interest lies in the all mighty dollar, not the wellfare of these magnificent animals. You take Shamu away from Seaworld, that is 70% of the money that comes into SW. They will spin the truth any which way they can to keep the money coming in. I for one, will never spend another dollar on that company or any other aquarium that keeps Orcas.
I also would like to add, Yes, some good has come from the display of Orcas when the practice began in the 60's with the accidental capture of Namu. The world was able to see that these creatures were not the evil man-eaters of the sea and many people have fallen in love with them. But this is 2013 and keeping orcas in captivity is a barbaric archaic practive and must be stopped. Artifical insemination (yes, the majority of baby shamus that have been produced have been born because of this) must stop. Why did Seaworld want Tilikum so badly? Because they needed a sperm donor, and that's basically what he is used for. Do the research and you will be sickened by what you find.
"I saw the guy who made this on Bill Maher a couple of weeks ago."
I know this is a late response and was addressed but I would who you actually saw. Gabriela Cowperthwaite is the writer, producer and director of the film.
This discussion has been archived, and is not accepting additional responses.
