Beyond Blackfish

I remember hearing about and looking for footage online when Dawn Brancheau was killed at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium by the killer whale, Tilikum in 2010. The bulk of the information I knew about that incident came much later when the documentary Blackfish came out in 2013. This year, John Hargrove (former SeaWorld trainer) published a memoir: Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish. And just last week Mattel pulled their SeaWorld Trainer Barbie off the shelves. So I started doing some reading about the so-called #Blackfish effect.

Right after Blackfish came out, former SeaWorld trainer Bridgette M. Pirtle (who was not interviewed on screen for Blackfish) talked about her experience. She left SeaWorld in 2011 and, in 2012, found the blog Voice of the Orcas which is run by four ex-SeaWorld Trainers. The film was pitched to her as a way to show that what happened that day in 2010 was not Dawn Brancheau's fault and that appealed to her. After viewing it, she didn't think it did and now regrets her involvement. According to Bridgette, Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite asked her to “please wait until after award season to criticize Blackfish.” Now she's trying to distance herself from Blackfish. I'm not sure why: like I said, she wasn't on screen or even mentioned in passing.

Next pro-captivity former SeaWorld trainer Mark Simmons talked about his experience with Blackfish. His problem is less with the portrayal of Dawn Brancheau and more with the factual errors. He said "if you’ve ever been in a place in your life where you know something intimately, and to watch a movie about that thing, one that appears very well done, very credible, yet which is a complete perversion of your reality…you’ll know what I felt like." I understand his exasperation: when you watch Blackfish looking for Mark's perspective, he has three or four moments that are either nonsequitur or a segway into the next segment. The one that sticks out to me is when his footage is used to introduce what happened at Loro Parque. I'd be upset too if I gave this interview, providing what I thought was good content, and none of it was used.

At the bottom of Mark's interview, there is a link to Dissecting Blackfish which is "an analysis of editorial choices utilized in the film Blackfish and the book Death at SeaWorld and their relationship to the animal rights movement" which was published by Joe Kleiman in 2014. The essay goes after Blackfish for misrepresenting facts on the treatment, or mistreatment, of killer whales at SeaWorld parks. As I read I started agreeing that Blackfish does place the blame on SeaWorld for the state of marine life in captivity. I understand why: SeaWorld is universally recognizable and they have over half of the captive population of killer whales.

I was most interested in pages 15-19 where Kleiman critiques how footage of Dawn Branchaeu's sister and her foundation was used in the film. It reminded me that although documentaries market themselves as authoritative sources of information, they are not immune to bias and misrepresentation. I think, as a consumer, one has to remember that whenever watching something like this: the filmmaker is going to present information so you interpret it how they want, which may break from reality.

Getting back to the animals: according to Wikipedia, there are 8 other parks with captive killer whales (I'm excluding Loro Parque; those whales are owned by SeaWorld) in similar or worse condition than SeaWorld. I think we make a bad assumption after viewing Blackfish that if we "take down" SeaWorld, those parks will also go down. However, I do think that SeaWorld is an industry leader and if they were to make positive changes it would pressure the other parks out there to do the same. Or it might not and people will start flocking to the Miami Aquarium if SeaWorld throws in the towel.

And speaking of SeaWorld: their response, Truth about Blackfish, points at where Blackfish used footage and narrative to imply that the plight of the killer whale in captivity is 100% on SeaWorld. It also refutes interviewees saying SeaWorld blamed Brancheau. I like to think that SeaWorld wouldn't be so bold as to blame the dead for a horrible tragedy. And honestly, beyond what is said in Blackfish, I don't recall a SeaWorld statement saying that. Now, to the assertions that Blackfish wrongly characterized Tilikum's mental state, I'm not sure anyone can make a precise call on what he's thinking or how he's feeling.

That brings us to what started me on this train of thought: the release of John Hargrove's memoir, Beneath the Surface, and the response to his claims. John doesn't seem troubled by what's out there and says "they're going to pull out everything they can, drag up any dirt they can on me to make me look like this awful person." And SeaWord reportedly provided start-up funding to Awesome Ocean to point out the "unfounded claims and factual inaccuracies about SeaWorld and their killer whale care" made by John in his book.

To be clear, after reading all this information, I do not think that SeaWorld is a haven for killer whales who could not otherwise survive in the wild or that the conditions by which they are kept are good for the whales. But I also do not think SeaWorld is the evil jailer who is asserting their power over these creatures just because they can. I think when this started, the practice of catching and displaying killer whales, we didn't know the detrimental long-term effects on keeping these large animals in small pools and we did just want to learn more about them and provide an easy way for a lot of people to enjoy them. But now we know the problem and I think it's SeaWorld's obligation to be a leader in figuring out how to handle it moving forward.

My opinion: depending on the individual situation, captive killer whales need to be either released into seapens or the open sea.