Blackfish

I was listening to the radio about a month ago and they were talking about this new documentary about the Killer Whales at Seaworld.  Naturally this interested me because Killer Whales are my favorite animal.  They are so incredibly smart and for years I have been saying that the Discover Chanel needs to have a Killer Whale Week too based on the fact that they are on the very tippy top of the food chain (they attack Great White Sharks and eat only their liver...can we say bad ass?!).

Anyways, I got the film through Netflix and held off from watching it a few days.  Honestly, I was scared of watching it because I didn't know how it was going to make me feel.  I had visions of me just completely losing it and flying down to Orlando to burn Seaworld to the ground.  So I finally got the courage and put it in.  It was phenomenal.

The documentary had former Seaworld trainers discussing what it was like working with the whales and all the accidents/attacks that happened in the years that Seaworld and other Marine parks have been operation.  They also talked about the history of Killer Whales in captivity and that was absolutely appalling.  People would go out in boats and airplanes, find the whales, and then take the calfs by putting nets around the pods (groups of whales).  They showed the video of this happening and the rest of the pod would just watched them take their babies.  One of the men who did this, a big, tattooed, old man said, while crying, that it was the worst thing he has ever done.

The documentary also shared the story of Tilikum, the whale that killed his trainer in 2010.  It went through his history of being captured and being abused by other whales and his first park.  When you watch it you think to yourself no wonder he acts like this, look at his life.  How could you be ok living in a bathtub your whole life?

You must watch this documentary.  It was so well done and it only made me cry twice but it made me want to do something and hopefully when you do watch it you will feel the same.  These animals need to be in the wild and that's the end of that.

For more information on the film, you can visit these sites:

Official Blackfish website

SeaWorld of Hurt