SeaWorld: An Orcas Nightmare
Alyssa Guzman & Dominic Malleris
Thesis
In the documentary Blackfish, Gabriella Couperthwaite successfully illustrates how keeping killer whales locked up leads to them being violent by interviewing trainers and whale experts.
Defining the Purpose
Any animal that is born in the wild must stay there where they belong. For the main reason being that they should be raised in the habitat where they have the necessities they need. If they're kept in a small space instead of running free, they begin to not act like themselves and start to show an aggressive side. Orcas are meant to be in the open ocean, not a small pool for shows
Interviews
A technique to help prove that whales get violent from being in captivity is the interviews that were made in the documentary, Blackfish. An example would be that they used expert testimony which overtime the employees seen how violent they were getting. Another example would be they show emotional connection on how being kept in captivity the whales don't act as expected if they are constantly being loved and cared about. The last example would be that they took them out in the ocean and seen them interact with other killer whales.
Stock Footage
Another technique to prove our thesis is stock footage. An example of stock footage shows the trainers interacting with animals showing that they're having fun. A second example is it shows the relationships between the other whales being happier in the wild. When being able to swim freely among the other orcas, it shows them to be compassionate towards each other. A last example of stock footage would be the part in the film where they also show the pain the other orcas put them through while performing in a form of anger. In the picture below, it shows Tilikum bleeding from the other orcas
Different POV
Finally the last technique is different points of views. The first example would be the views of the SeaWorld employees wanted to show what really happened to Dawn and why the whales did what they did. While on the other hand, the second example would be the SeaWorld managers tried to cover up what happened to Dawn making it her fault that she got attacked and not the whales to still make them seem like harmless creatures. Although, the last example would be the people that saw the incident happen knew that it wasn't her fault though. The innocent bystanders didn't know what to think of while it happened but only to know that Dawn was dragged in and killed.
Conclusion
Overall, these techniques of footage help show that the orcas are much happier where they belong and shouldn't be kept in captivity for long because of the reason that they get violent. It was included in the film that those whales that are there now will stay there until they die off. It's sad to think about this because of thinking of all the zoos that have with all the animals in captivity. They should be able to roam free where they are meant to be.