When I was younger I wanted to be with dolphins and go to a park to see them perform. I was taken to one, but was too young to remember it. I lived in Maine and got to see wild orca in the ocean up close on a small boat. I was happy the orca did not turn over the boat and left us alone. I was awestruck how huge they were.I grew up, moved away from water and forgot about them. Until I saw this movie, Blackfish. I truly thought aquatic parks had closed up and gone out of business. I had no idea these places were so popular. What the masses do not comprehend is that these animals are smart and wild born. They do not belong in a cement tank working for fish. This movie is about what happens to the naive trainers when they work with these huge smart animals. It is just sad human greed and ignorance keeps these places running for our vulgar entertainment. And that baby orca and dolphins are removed from their parents in the wild and in captivity, breaking the hearts of their mothers. The harvesting of these aquatic mammals is big business for Japan (The Cove, a movie) and other nations willing to sell out their natural resources. It is all about money and greed.
I hope one day we wake up and turn away from this form of animal cruelty as entertainment.
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ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the movie Blackfish is full of lies and half-truths. 90% of the orca in the theme parks nowadays were born in captivity and it is illegal to capture any more. Babies are no longer removed from their mothers. They don't work for fish because you can't force an 8,000lb animal to do anything...especially if it's not hungry. These animals are well-cared for and the trainers are not naive, which is why they still work with the animals even after these incidents. I have no doubt you will delete this comment but all I'm doing is asking you to look at both sides of the equation. Don't take Blackfish at face value since it's based off of practices that were eliminated more than 20 years ago. It is also illegal to import wild-born orca and dolphins into the United States and has been since the 70s. I don't want the whales in captivity either, but releasing them isn't an option since the wild-born one have spent too much time in captivity and do have the immune systems to fight off common illnesses ones who grew up in the wild do. Sea pens aren't an option either because they still would rely on humans for food. Believe me, they're well cared for.
DeleteDid you get a chance to see the movie, or are you commenting just based on industry responses?
DeleteI ask, because some of your critiques are not claims made in the movie and some are not disputed by industry. The claim that babies are not removed from their mothers isn't disputed by Sea World, as Kalina was separated from Katina at quite an early age (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katina_(orca)#Katina.27s_other_calves_and_grandchildren).
Just as elephants can be trained by much smaller people, so can orcas. The movie goes into great detail about how this is done, explained by the people who trained them. This is not disputed by Sea World either.
If you think it is illegal to capture and import dolphins, you should watch The Cove. There was another capture at Taiji recently including an albino, which may end up in America.
Orcas are still being rounded up in the wild. Recently a group affiliated with Sea World and Disney rounded up some for the Sochi games. They have since been routed to China (http://qz.com/174165/sochis-olympic-orcas-are-missing-have-they-been-smuggled-to-china/). A number of American companies are petitioning to allow recently captured orcas into the country.
This movie provides sound evidence to back up their claims. Can you provide evidence for your rebuttal that they are well cared for?