Ok, so I literally just finished one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my life, Blackfish. Blackfish, is directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and it chronicles what a horrible life killer whales lead in captivity. From wrangling orcas away from their families in the wild, to keeping them in pens, Blackfish shows just how inhuman these whales are treated for entertainment purposes.
Now, I like many of you have visited Sea World. I was always amazed by how amazing these creatures really were. I even envisioned myself one day wanting to be one of the trainers. However, after watching this documentary I realized how misguided and how remorseful many of these trainer felt after leaving their jobs. They talked about the many accidents that happened that often the fault landed on the trainer, not the whale. After visiting Sea World numerous times, I never thought of the fact that these whales were forcibly removed from the wild and forced to swim in a "bathtub" for the rest of their lives. I even thought that these animals loved what they were doing, that they seemed to enjoy the relationship they formed with their trainers. What Blackfish succeeds in doing is showing the behind the scenes videos of some of these attacks or "accidents" as Sea World has claimed they are. They show that these creatures are often fed up with being treated like show pony's who respond to verbal commands and are forced to perform day after day.
The scene that devastated me was when they showed baby orcas, being forcibly removed from their moms. Right before that scene was shown, orca experts explain how baby whales, calfs, tend to stay with their moms for most of their lives. After the whales are removed from the moms, to go to other parks, the video shows the moms crying and screaming while searching for their baby. It's heart breaking because they whales are unable to protect their young.
Overall, I will give the movie Blackfish 5 out 5 stars. It is a must see, eye-opening experience about the mistreatment of these whales. While myself and many of the trainers in this movie believe Sea World doesn't need to shut down completely, they do need to reevaluate how they treat, train, and obtain these beautiful creatures. As one of the trainers put it, Sea World has single handily open many people's lives to the world of marine biology and created a sense of intrigue into the mysterious world of the ocean. The next time I see an orca, I hope it's on a whale watching tour on the West coast where I can admire these creatures in their natural habitat, where they should be!
