CNN Films: Blackfish (Killer Whales) 10/26 CNN 9PM EST

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Many of us have experienced the excitement and awe of watching 8,000-pound orcas, or “killer whales,” soar out of the water and fly through the air at sea parks, as if in perfect harmony with their trainers. Yet, in our contemporary lore this mighty black-and-white mammal is like a two-faced Janus—beloved as a majestic, friendly giant yet infamous for its capacity to kill viciously. The documentary Blackfish unravels the complexities of this dichotomy, employing the story of notorious performing whale Tilikum, who—unlike any orca in the wild—has taken the lives of several people while in captivity. So what exactly went wrong? Shocking, never-before-seen footage and riveting interviews with trainers and experts manifest the orca’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity over the last four decades, and the growing disillusionment of workers who were misled and endangered by the highly profitable sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.
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That SeaWorld always looked creepy to me.

I heard that Killer Whales are related more to the dolphin than to whales.
 
I just had to make a post about this probably for therapy because I feel like destroying the world after watching Blackfish. It is just amazing to me how humans can be so cruel to other majestic intelligent animals for the sole purpose of making money.

For those who haven’t seen it, Blackfish is a documentary being shown on CNN about the treatment of Orcas at Seaworld and other parks. Its a little brutal to watch and to me extremely frustrating because there is nothing I can do to stop the exploitation and suffering these animals are going through.

It brings me back to the teaching the church has about not treating animals like toys for amusement and respecting their dignity. We as a society have turned beautiful super intelligent animals like Elephants, Bears and Orcas into clowns for own stupid entertainment as a money making venture.

These poor Orcas live miserable lives in small concrete pools and are made to do tricks for food. Then we wonder why they sometimes freak out and attack either another whale or humans.

Humans are such wretched things.
 
I saw this too. Terrible. I’ve been to Sea World once when I was young.

Several years ago I went to a “drive thru” zoo in Ohio. There is also a traditional style zoo on site. It was the saddest thing. All these beautiful exotic animals in these tiny cages living on asphalt floors.

I’m torn about zoos and aquariums because I can see the good they do in exposing people to these wonderful animals, hopefully instilling some sense of care for their well being and environments in the wild, their conservation, etc. There are great zoos out there that offer what looks like comfortable environments for their animals. The Columbus zoo comes to mind.

On the other hand, its like you said with those orcas, they don’t belong in concrete pools. Such a terrible life of confinement for them being trained to do tricks for treats.

Regarding the documentary, I’m only surprised more trainers aren’t injured or killed.

Don’t even get me started on the lives of those poor circus animals. :mad:
 
Yeah I feel the same way you do. I can see a benefit to having Zoos and aquariums. But you pretty much have them there to entertain then it just gets downright disgusting. There is no reason why these companies can’t put more effort and resources in giving them a close to natural habitat. I recently went to the Atlanta Aquarium and see tons of fish and some whales that were just swimming around. They weren’t doing tricks but it was just a big pool. Now I don’t know if they have other places where they can swim. But the saddest thing I saw there was the penguin exhibit. They don’t even get to see sunlight. They have LED lamps overhead and have a bunch of fake rock with arctic looking wallpaper behind them and a small pool. That made the whole thing a downer for me.

Yeah forget about circuses. At this point I have a hard time going into any zoo or aquarium unless its a zoo like you mentioned where they give the animals a natural habitat to live in.
 
Looks like I got the date wrong. :o

It’s actually on CNN the following date and time:

CNN Films: Blackfish (Killer Whales) 10/27 CNN 9PM EST
 
I do agree it isn’t fair to them.

But I have to disagree with your statement about that is the reason some attack humans.

Orcas are naturally very nasty animals. They torture and kill seal pups for fun. They are known to kill blue wales by jumping on top of them and preventing them from getting air. Honestly I wouldn’t want to be near one any more than a shark.

They are not these sweet little animals we see on TV.

However, they are still living breathing beings and do not deserve to be treated poorly.

Zoos are getting a lot better about taking care of their animals. My local zoo is constantly working to breed and release several different monkeys and birds. They work hard to help the Snow Leopard population as well. Thankfully many zoos are turning away from the concrete and bars to proper open environments.

Aquariums seem to be having a harder time with this. It is a lot harder to reproduce the ocean for these creatures. Many use the public side to fund their conservation efforts in the real ocean. The people who work there want to the best for the animals.

I would say that SeaWorld is just a large circus using sea animals. They do need to work more on the caring and conserving the animals and less on exploiting them.
 
I believe that orcas in the wild do not attack humans.

They are intelligent enough to not mistake us for dinner, unlike sharks who think we are other creatures and attack us.

I just looked it up, there have been 24 circa attacks on humans by captive orcas since 1970.
 
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