A Sea of Trouble
The lies and deception of SeaWorld
By Kenae Clay and Sandra Ruiz
Thesis
In the documentary Blackfish, Gabriela Cowperthwaite succeeded in demonstrating the negative side of being in association with SeaWorld. Also demonstrates the negative of keeping whales captive. He does this by using footage of the whales and incidents and interviews with the victim's family and also the trainers. Also he uses reenactment's of the court cases and the capture of the baby orcas.
The Purpose of Blackfish
The purpose of Blackfish is to show the public how SeaWorld mistreats the orcas and the consequences that are hidden from the trainers and the audiences that affect the whales.
Interviews with Alexis's Fiance and Mom
The first interview was with Alexis's Fiancé. She explains how when Loro Parque called her and stated that he was fine and it was just an incident with the whales. But when Her and his mother went to view the body, it was Alexis and his chest was burst open. This demonstrates how dishonest SeaWorld is, because clearly he wasn't okay. Also this demonstrates the affect on the family. The director placed this interview in to make the audience feel for both Alexis and his family and the whales.
Interviews wih John Hargrove
In the interview John Hargrove talks about that he and the other trainers weren't aware of all the other incident was that involved the whales hurting the trainers. They were being dishonest whenever there was an incident that it was the trainers fault and that it wont happen again and that everyone was fine. SeaWorld was just trying to cover up so that the trainers wouldn't be concerned and still have money they make off from the orcas.
Interview with the man 'Who Drank the Kool-aid'
The filmmaker interviewed a man who was all for SeaWorld. He thought that SeaWorld was a perfect place for the whales to continue living. He blamed the trainers for all the incidents that happened in their parks. Its connected to the purpose because it falls under the category that SeaWorld has connections with the whales and the other park in Spain and lying about it. This demonstrates that SeaWorld is a dishonest company.
Whale slams a trainer.
During a show, a trainer was riding on the back of one whale while the other leaped out of the water and slammed right into him. Also keep in mind that whales can weigh up 8 tons. The only thing keeping his body together was the wet suit he was wearing. The way SeaWorld is connected to all the incidents involving the whales and the trainers and telling the trainers about the issues with whales and their history with previous trainers at Sea Land.
Dawn Moments before she died
In the stock footage of the day of Dawn's death, it shows that at first Tilikum was acting and responding to her very well. However when he didn't hear the whistle, that's when he started to get irritated. After the show, Dawn went to have one on one time with him and that's where it went south. Also it's no footage of her being drug into the water which makes the audience think that SeaWorld has deleted some footage. This is concluded because SeaWorld has cameras placed everywhere. This is another incident where SeaWorld comes up as dishonest. Also this clip indicates. It's connected to the purpose because SeaWorld didn't notify the SeaWorld trainers about the previous accidents with whales and other trainers even though they knew, they only cared about making a profit
Breaking News
The film showed two news clips that blamed Dawn for her death. When the sheriff came on camera he said she slipped and drown but that lie didn't stick for long because it was clear that she was attacked. Another clip was the head trainer in SeaWorld and he blamed her ponytail. He said that the whale pulled her in by her ponytail. Its connected to the purpose because SeaWorld is being dishonest about their affiliation with the company/whales is that they don't get blamed for all the accidents.
SeaWorld vs. Dawn
When Kelly Clark lies about not having any knowledge about Tilikum and his behavior while interacting with people. She lied that the whales at SeaWorld are perfectly fine and that whenever an accident occurs between one of the whales and the trainers it is not the whales fault but only the trainer can be blamed doing their job. Its connected to the purpose because the owners of SeaWorld lie under oath during the trial to protect themselves and the reputation SeaWorld has.
Loro Parque
In the film 'BlackFish' there is a re-enactment scene of the court case about Loro Parque, the park in Spain at which SeaWorld sent Orcas to. In this scene the head trainer denies that SeaWorld and Loro Parque are connected. This either means one of the two things, SeaWorld was not telling their trainers about what going on or SeaWorld are telling their trainers to lie about them sending orcas. Both can be possible because throughout the film out of the former trainers admit to being kept in the dark about accidents with the whales. This scene also demonstrates that SeaWorld will do anything to cover things up and keep cashing checks. They are not only being dishonest with the costumers, but also being dishonest with their trainers. One can think they would do such a thing because they don't want the trainers to be scared of going into the water with the whales. If the trainers don't do so they will in the end 'lose money'.
Captured at Sea
When they showed the escape route for the orcas, it showed in a little animated re enactment the adult orcas swimming straight to let the humans follow them while the baby orcas went into another direction, giving them a head start to go into hiding away from the humans. But they seen since they have to go above to get air and were captured. Its connected the to purpose because the divers work for SeaWorld by capturing baby orcas so that they can control them by displaying tricks to thousands of people for entertainment and therefore being responsible for the whales and the consequences they bring.
Conclusion
The whole purpose of the film was to expose SeaWorld of all their lies and deceits. Throughout the film there were a plethora amount of interviews, stock footage and re-enactments to back up the purpose. But you can't blame all of SeaWorld the whales weren't at fault because they didn't really know any better because of they way they were raised by humans instead of other orcas. The trainers had no knowledge of anything of what SeaWorld was doing, after viewing this film I look at animals and people a different way.