...Krista Jackson October 7th, 2014 College Credit English Cause and Effect Essay Black Fish Since 1964, killer whales; also known as the orca, (Orcinus orca) first to put in a cage for the world to see. The view of the killer whale has shifted from a dangerous killer to a cuddly animal. Theses whales have gone from a sea creature shot at by humans, to the star money maker at theme parks. Both images become one-sided, putting the creature into stereotypes. Orcas resemble humans, very complex, intelligent, and also taken advantage of. As of today, they stand as the largest animal and predator to be put in the smallest captivity. The killer whales beauty has mesmerized humans for years, but captivity not only breaks down the physical and mental health of these creatures, and also puts others in danger. Studies have shown the life expectancies of an orca in captivity remain well below the life of a wild counterparts. Industries claim that the achievements in veterinary care and nutrition have made a life of orca far better, but studies prove that the whales act much better in the wild. In 2007, SeaWorld responded to questions asked by KGTV and stated “We have often said that 30 years is a good estimate of average killer whale lifespan as we can exceed that age, as evidence by one of ours, Corky. She is at least 40 and perhaps as old as 42. Biology of Marine Mammals said that female killer whales in their studies group had a mean life expectancy of 31 years and males...
Words: 1212 - Pages: 5
...Introduction A killer whale at its center, Blackfish is the first documental since Grizzly Man to show the reality of these captivated animals. This documental was released July 18, 2013; directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, what she presents to us is just something that needs to be presented to all the people from the planet. She went to the park and met the chief zoological officer Andrews, he’s been in the park since 1986 and he explains “that while part of the goal is entertainment, SeaWorld's aim is to use the shows to educate and inspire visitors, as a way to help conserve the environment and support wildlife.” There are a lot of people that are making interview and giving their opinion for SeaWorld to close and one of theme is the 81-year-old primatologist Jane Goodall said “whales and dolphins should never be held in captivity, and that the entertainment company known for its orca shows should be shuttered.” This film exposed the misery endured by SeaWorld's trained orca and the dangers posed to trainers working with stressed-out carnivorous whales. But to continue with my argument let me explain to you what is the documental of Blackfish. Movie Summary Report John Hargrove and Samantha Berg, a former SeaWorld trainer, tell why they decided to work with these animals, other trainers continue telling their story about how the decided to be a trainer for killer whales. They just fell in love with these creatures and they knew that was their future. To become a trainer...
Words: 2425 - Pages: 10
...The release of “Blackfish,” a documentary about SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death by a killer whale, aroused an overflow of opinions on whether or not circuses and zoos should close. The non-supporters of zoos and circuses, like Pilar Clark, argue that people shouldn’t attend a place where animals are “made to perform for the enjoyment of humans.” Whit Honea, a father of two, takes the side of Clark when he says he “would love for every zoo and aquarium to focus its entertainment value in education rather than the bells and whistles of cruelty.” Unable to see past the potential education aspect, Clark says she hopes parks “that house animals against their will” listen to SeaWorld’s announcement regarding the end to their popular orca...
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
...Many people around the world travel to SeaWorld locations to see the aquatic mammals and their shows. Little do they know of what kind of hardships and cruel treatments these animals endure. In the past, the documentary film Blackfish (2013) exposes SeaWorld and Sealand of the Pacific for their harsh methods of training and keeping orcas and other aquatic mammals. This film opens the eyes of its viewers to the cruelty that orcas are experiencing from living in these enclosures their whole lives. Before I viewed the film Blackfish, I had only heard about it from friends and acquaintances who have. They said that it changed their whole view of SeaWorld, and for the most part, everyone was against the training of animals for use in shows. For the past few years I have heard mention here and there of the controversy surrounding the film so I was very excited when I finally experienced it for myself. Besides the film, I generally do not care much for animal rights and things of that nature. Though I would never personally cause an animal unnecessary harm or suffering, you will never find me donating or volunteering my time to the organizations such as The Humane...
Words: 544 - Pages: 3
...killer whale unable to survive on its own? The orcas should remain at SeaWorld until their deaths because they cannot survive in the wild after years of captivity, and they should be kept from reproducing whether they perform or not. Do we need to do anything though? They are intelligent and amazing, but are not they just animals? Some have given too much credit to orcas’ intelligence, such as one of the scientists, Marino. In Blackfish, she states, “The orca brain screams out intelligence awareness. We took this tremendous brain and put it in a magnetic resonance scanner. What we found is just astounding.” They found enlarged areas in the brain that are associated with high emotional capacity. SeaWorld, however, reports differently: “This is misleading. The most recent scientific research demonstrates that cetacean behaviors used to argue that high levels of intelligence are found commonly across mammals and vertebrates, and that cetacean intelligence is qualitatively no different than other vertebrates” (“Truth About Blackfish”...
Words: 818 - Pages: 4
...Blackfish is a documentary that tells the story of Tilikum, a "notoriously aggressive" orca who has been linked to the deaths of three individuals while being kept in captivity. The film, told largely by five former SeaWorld trainers, uses highly emotional footage to portray Tilikum as an animal that has been negatively impacted by his life at SeaWorld. Blackfish is advertised as a documentary but, in reality, is little more than propaganda, and rather than providing impartial and balanced information, the film uses inaccurate and deceptive facts in a clear example of how bias is used in the media to portray a certain view to the audience. The film misrepresents the orca species as a whole by saying that "they're amazingly friendly and understanding and intuitively want to be your companion." This implies that killer whales are naturally amicable and respectful to humans. Blackfish shows footage of an orca interacting with a dog to justify this statement, but does not explain that the orca shown in that video was an abandoned juvenile named Luna who had been living in Nootka Sound for five years, where he was constantly exposed to human presence and activity. The interactions with Luna that are shown in the film are not an accurate representation of the average, well-adjusted, pod-dwelling orca. This footage is shown out of context and makes the false claim that killer whales, as a whole, are more wary of human presence and generally keep to themselves in natural conditions...
Words: 1192 - Pages: 5
...‘Blackfish’, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a documentary that illustrates the bad treatment of orcas in the Seaworld. It uses different kinds of techniques such as visual, sound, language and structure to present the audiences three groups: beautiful, victimised but fearsome killer whales; trainers are represented as vulnerable as well as compassionate and the sea world management is represented as manipulative, callous and greedy. Audiences are positioned to view whales with admiration, fear, sympathy and understanding; to view trainers with admiration and sympathy and to view the seaworld management with anger and disgust. Firstly, orcas are portrayed as majestic creatures, they are victims under the Seaworld management and they...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...The dominant way of thinking is that the orcas are caring intelligent creatures that have been traumatized into acting the way the media covers. Another example challenging the dominant view that orcas are dangerous and cruel creatures occurs throughout the documentary, Blackfish challenges the dominant way of thinking by interviews with former SeaWorld trainers and a number of archived footage. For example, when the former SeaWorld trainers were interviewed and asked about the behaviour of orcas they described how the Orcas were gentle caring giants as they reminisced over the footage showing the interactions they shared with orcas through archival footage and sharing the experience they shared with the orcas within the film. These interactions show one of the trainers first time actually in the water with an orca and in the film, she is beyond nervous but as soon as she heads into that water all the butterflies disappear as the orca jumps around and listens to her signals with a heartbeat. This is further solidified...
Words: 551 - Pages: 3
...We all have the option to leave, to get away and travel to anywhere in this world. We are not confined to one specific area, trapped without an escape. For some odd reason, some people believe the kidnapping of natures creation, wild killer whales living its own life, is acceptable to make a profit. About forty-two years ago, the capture of young whales was a hit job. One diver, who jumped on the opportunity of a lifetime, tells his story in the documentary Blackfish. This diver, John Crowe, explains how this job brought excitement at first sight. Then, as he captures his first whale, he realizes that he had just taken a baby from its mother. He continues his work while the baby is crying out to its mother for help, and John begins to cry...
Words: 313 - Pages: 2
...Director and filmmaker, Gabriela Cowperthwaite in her documentary, Blackfish, explores the remarkable nature of orca whales, demonstrates the cruel treatment found in their captivity and acknowledges the injuries and losses of many trainers due to numerous whale attacks. Cowperthwaite's purpose is to argue that killer whales are highly intelligent and emotional animals that do not cause harm when left in the wild. She focuses on SeaWorld, an establishment who captivates these orca's for human entertainment, and pose a threat to the lives of many trainers, the whales inhabitant in their pools, and are the cause of many whale attacks in these industries. She adopts a serious and reflective tone in order to appeal to the feelings and reason of other animal entertainment facilities and her public audience. Cowperthwaite begins her documentary by exploiting the view of SeaWorld from oppositions that aren't commonly disclosed or...
Words: 503 - Pages: 3
...In the movie “Blackfish” by Gabriela Cowperthwaite talks about the enclosed habitat of killer whales. By 1960 a large exhibition when on to catch killer whales to put on for entertainment. Over the course of catching killer whales over 70 different incidents have happened. Leading thus killing many helpless trainers . The filmmaker uses a lot of ethos, pathos and logos in the film in many different ways to persuade the audience that the containment of killer whales is inhuman. In the Documentary Blackfish the director uses logos to persuade the audience by explaining the differences between the lives Orcas live in captivity versus their natural habitat. In the video he explains how many of the male killer ways left in captivity dorsal fin are collapse caused by them not being able to swim freely and being fed unnatural diets like thawed dead fish. In contrast, only 1% of male orcas have their dorsal fin collapsed. Another point the director makes is how orcas are kept small confinements with up four orcas. The small confinements cause the orcas to get aggressive inflicting harm on one another, leaving scars and/or even resulting in death. In comparison orcas in the wild don't tend to fight each other and if they were too they have the freedom to flee the conflict way unlike inside captivity. It is unreasonable to keep...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...The Trainer or the Trained Going to parks such as SeaWorld and the zoo are typical childhood things, until adulthood when that cute lion turns into a man-eating beast that has been taken out of its’ natural habitat and placed behind bars. Seeing these animals trapped and put on display for a profit ruins the fun and raises question as to who is responsible for thinking that animal cruelty for profit was a good idea. Gabriela Cowperthwaite exposes the corporate company of SeaWorld in her documentary Blackfish for their negligence to animal captivity and allowing the attacks of innocent people to continue to happen. Along with the theme of animal cruelty, Jurassic World also portrays the company as reckless in pursuit of money and greed. Both...
Words: 1551 - Pages: 7
...The blackfish, more commonly known as, orcas or killer whales. Has been known to give smiles to many. While seeing them in the wild or at parks, like SeaWorld, can both give people happiness and exciting feelings. Now take a minuet. What would happen if all people knew about the blackfish were incorrect? The only thing that was true, was the love for the mammal. The documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Blackfish, is to show the importance of how these animals act. Some would disagree, bit if people dive deeper into their understanding, Orcas are similar to humans in their emotions. Blackfish has many different resources which makes this documentary convincing. According to Howard Garrett, an Orca Researcher, states that there has not been any record of any whale attack from a wild whale. On the other hand, there has been countless records of Orca whale attacks from captivity. The attacks come from many SeaWorld, zoos and other alike parks like SeaWorld, form other counties. This shows that whales get stressed in captivity because they don't have open, unlimited waters like the wild whales. Lori Marina, a neuroscientists, said her team looked at whales' brain, and found something amazing. They have an extended-paralumbic cleft....
Words: 960 - Pages: 4
...Blackfish does this by providing thorough background information, such as how whale captivity came about, and the behavior of whales that are not in captivity. This comparison of behavior demonstrates to the viewer the reality of SeaWorld’s policies and facilities for the whales. It is also important to know why an argument is being presented, and Blackfish does so and explains the significance of their message. The film includes not only details on the attacks of Dawn Brancheau and Ken Peters, two SeaWorld orca trainers, but also the fact that SeaWorld and other similar aquariums are still operating. The film urges the importance of wide acceptance of this view on whale captivity in order to prevent not only physical harm to more whales, but mental harm that can additionally wreak havoc on humans around the whales. Blackfish makes sure that the viewer knows the importance of their argument, the difference between life and death for whales and whale trainers, which makes the argument even more...
Words: 682 - Pages: 3
...Tomas Hannacher 6/18/16 Block 6 Seaworld Under Fire & What It Means For San Diego. Seaworld has been surrounded by media controversy the last several years following an orca activist documentary titled Blackfish. Blackfish, was released in 2013 and originally premiered in the 2013 sundance festival where it picked up traction and attracted Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films who funded Blackfish for a larger audience and screen, where Blackfish flourished and earned over $2 million dollars over two weeks in the domestic box office. Overall, Blackfish mainly investigated the death of an orca trainer at Seaworld orlando. The documentary suggests that Tilikum, an orca was involved in three trainer deaths due to the extreme traumatic experiences...
Words: 506 - Pages: 3
