Blackfish: the documentary

Not yet but I do plan to watch it this evening.  I've had a thing for Orca since reading Clarke's Dolphin Island ever so long ago.   I'm on the fence about what to do. I know parks need to generate income.  I really wonder how much research goes on at these parks.   The environment is not natural so observations on orca behavior at the parks may not reflect orca behavior  accurately.

Human hubris is a strange phenomena.   I don't blame the orca in the death of the trainer.

I think that's one point this film tries to make.  They say if we want to study, research, provide safe haven for animals no longer fit for the wild there are sanctuaries that do a much better job than a place like Sea World.  Their argument like yours is that forcing the animals to do behaviors not in line with their natural instincts can only do harm with no benefit aside from dollars for the humans.

I have always wondered why people are shocked when animals that are predators end up attacking/eating people.  It happens with bears, large cats, Orcas, etc.  They are not meant to be captive, and should never be.  If you (collective) "train" these types of animals I don't care if you get ate/killed......what did you think would happen?

Tillikum is no different than any predator....not meant for captivity.

I watched the movie last night and it was very disturbing as promised.  I feel that everyone should have to see this before deciding to support the Sea World franchise.  The way they treat the orcas is downright animal abuse and they brainwash the trainers into believing they're taking such great "care" of these animals.  The trainers come to think the bond they have with the animal is strong enough to prevent it from doing them harm but the 60 plus injuries and handful of deaths from human/orca interaction at parks show otherwise.

And interestingly, according to the film there are no know human incidents or deaths caused by orcas in the wild.

Lots of cover ups by Sea World with Tillicum, the whale that killed the trainer in 2010.  I truly hope that this film will have some type of influence on park sales and get the park to rethink the way it uses the orcas.

OSHA has stepped in and ruled that trainers cannot be in the water with the animals.   There must be some kind of barrier between the two species.     This will most likely be the beginning of the end for Sea World.     I expect shows are rather dull now.

But we domesticated dogs

That's one very small step in the right direction, but Sea World isn't even complying 100% and has already been cited for violation of the court ruling.

I don't think a simple change like doing the Shamu show without tricks that involve the human swimming WITH the animal will hurt the park much.  I think they have 6 or 7 shows, many of which have human/animal interaction and the ruling only applied to the orca shows.

The bigger problem is the treatment of a highly intelligent animal that weighs 12,000 pounds, is kept in confinement and often mistreated.  Ideally, we don't keep these animals in captivity anymore but I don't imagine Sea World or places like it will just go away.  Plus, these animals can live to be as old as humans (although most die early at Sea World) and we can't put the current Sea World whales back in the ocean.

My hope is that Sea World will one day create an environment that is more like a sanctuary for the orcas instead of forcing them to live in small tanks and perform 5 times a day for their food.  Then people can observe them in a more natural habitat and we can just leave them alone.