“Blackfish” and SeaWorld Orlando (4)
Blackfish occurred in 2010, the tragedy where Tilikum a killer whale took the life of Dawn Brancheau, his primary trainer. The Blackfish documentary aired in 2013, discussing the Dawn Brancheau incident along with all of Tilikums life story. The documentary also discussed the long history of accidents and deaths caused my killer whales in captivity. The amount of damage that having captive killer whales does outweighs the good. There are no instances of aggression killer whales have exhibited to humans in the wild. The statistics between captive versus wild killer whales are polar opposites.
While to understand the Blackfish accident as well as all killer whale deaths the best method is to examine the information and the film Blackfish. Tilikum was involved in the deaths of three people throughout his life in captivity. He was sold to SeaWorld because he had killed his first trainer at sea land. Regulations were not put in place even with this knowledge. Throughout the film they talk about how Dawn Brancheau’s death was not if it was when.
During this semester the Animals in the Public Eye course took a field trip to SeaWorld Orlando, where the accident occurred between Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau. During our trip to SeaWorld Orlando, we watched the Ocra encounter show, and compared to the old show. After Dawn Brancheau had passed they changed the Orca encounter show to not only rebrand themselves but also follow the judge’s ruling that the trainers could no longer be in the water with the Orcas. throughout our encounters not only with the animals but also with the staff at SeaWorld it was interesting to get their perspective on SeaWorld’s rules and regulations for their staff members. during orientation they talk more about what not to tell guests rather than what to do.
SeaWorld had an amazing opportunity to rebrand themselves after the tragic incidents involving Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau, however, they did not take that opportunity and instead told the press Dawn was in the wrong.