Last Updated: December 26, 2013

If I could summarize the 2013 documentary Blackfish in one sentence it would be this: The treatment of killer whales at SeaWorld is even worse than you imagined. The film uses interviews with former SeaWorld animal trainers, an expert from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, transcripts of courtroom testimony, and SeaWorld's own commercials to tell the history of the capture, breeding and treatment of orcas at the marine parks.

Framed by the 2010 death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, the film explores the larger issues of the ethics of keeping killer whales in captivity, the risks to the animal trainers, and the stories that SeaWorld tells about both. Filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite goes back over thirty years to tell the story of how SeaWorld captured Tilikum off the coast of Iceland, separating him from his mother and his family forever. On February 24, 2010, the 12,000-pound killer whale pulled his trainer into the pool, rolled and thrashed around, killing Brancheau at the Orlando, FL SeaWorld park, during a performance. According to the audio recording of an emergency call placed to the sheriff's office, Tilikum scalped his trainer and ate her arm.

Animal Cruelty

From the first moment, the film is riveting. Horror after horror unfolds, beginning with the first telephone calls to Orange County Fire Rescue and the sheriff's office. We then learn about the heartbreaking and sometimes fatal expeditions to capture baby killer whales, and hear from former SeaWorld trainers who tell first-hand about the extreme confinement of the animals, negative reinforcement, and the grief of mother orcas when their babies are taken away and sent to a different park.

  (Learn more about killer whales.)

The very conditions of captivity - relatively tiny tanks, fighting among the animals, dorsal fin collapse (The condition where a killer whale's top fin flops over occurs in only 1% of orcas in the wild, but every male orca in captivity suffers from it.), and shortened life spans - argue against keeping these massive animals in captivity. Whether the animals become psychotic or suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome is debatable, but it is clear that they suffer from stress and boredom.

The particularly cruel conditions at SeaWorld are indefensible. One training tactic pairs an experienced whale with a newbie, and if the newbie fails to perform a trick correctly, food is withheld from both animals, which leads to the older whale attacking the younger one. And Tilikum is kept in isolation most of the time to protect him from the aggressive female orcas.

SeaWorld refused the filmmaker's requests for interviews, but responded with a December 20, 2013 newspaper advertisement touting the sizes of their tanks and calling their staff "animal advocates." PETA, in return, urged the public not to fall for it, and pointed out "Although SeaWorld is right in stating that five of its whales have life spans similar to those of orcas in the wild, it fails to note that nearly every other orca at SeaWorld -- some 35 of them -- has died prematurely from violent accidents, preventable injuries, illnesses caused by stressful living conditions, and more."

Workplace Safety

The park, it seems, is as unforthcoming with their staff as they are with the public. The park has been plagued with killer whale attacks on trainers, although Brancheau's death is SeaWorld's only fatal attack on a trainer. There have been over 70 incidents in which numerous trainers have been injured, grabbed and/or dragged into the water by several different animals, and over and over, the park blames the trainers. "Trainer error" seems to be their mantra, and the former trainers interviewed by Blackfish learned the truth only after viewing videos of the attacks.

Tilikum's story, in particular, is full of warning signs that tragedy would strike. Captured in the wild when he was only 2 years old, Tilly is now the largest killer whale in captivity. At his first marine park, SeaLand of the Pacific, he killed trainer Keltie Byrne by dragging her underwater, according to witnesses interviewed for Balckfish. Years later, after Tilikum was sold to SeaWorld Orlando, an intruder was found dead in Tilikum's tank. While it is not publicly known what exactly happened in that case, the former SeaWorld trainers ask why we don't know more, when the park has night security staff and security cameras at Tilikum's tank.

Even Brancheau's death, it appears, has been the subject of an attempted cover-up. The park's earliest statements were that Brancheau slipped, fell, and accidentally drowned. When witnesses said she was pulled under by Tilikum, the park changed their story and claimed she was pulled in by her ponytail, impliedly blaming Brancheau's hairstyle. However, eyewitness statements indicate that Tilikum pulled her into the pool by her arm.

SeaWorld and the Law

The film also follows the OSHA lawsuit that resulted in a 2012 court ruling prohibiting trainers from being in the water with killer whales during performances. SeaWorld was also ordered to have a physical barrier between the trainers and the whales during shows. OSHA, an agency of the Department of Labor, works to "assure safe and healthful working conditions." OSHA does not deal with animal protection.

During the capture of killer whales in the wild, several animals were killed and one worker mentions sinking the dead bodies, thinking that it was an issue of public relations and not realizing that the killings were illegal. The worker was likely referring to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits the "taking" of whales, dolphins, walruses, seals, sea lions, sea otters, polar bears, and manatees.

The marine parks are also subject to Animal Welfare Act regulations, although the AWA was not mentioned in the film.

Aftermath

As a result of the film, an annual school field trip to SeaWorld has been canceled, and entertainers including Heart, Barenaked Ladies, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, 38 Special, Cheap Trick and Willie Nelson have canceled their performances. Children have also posted videos on YouTube explaining why they are boycotting the parks. The film has been a PR nightmare for SeaWorld.

Blackfish and Animal Rights

From an animal rights perspective, it doesn't matter whether SeaWorld uses hunger as a training tool or how many trainers have been killed. It doesn't even matter how intelligent or how similar to humans the killer whales are. (To its credit, Blackfish mentions killer whale intelligence and emotions only briefly.) Keeping sentient beings in captivity for our own purposes, whether those purposes are entertainment, breeding, education or research, violates the animals' rights to live their lives free of human use and exploitation. The same argument applies to all animals in circuses and zoos and all animals at SeaWorld, including the dolphins, sea lions, polar bears, penguins and fish.

While the OSHA lawsuit protects the trainers, it does nothing to help the orcas. The solution is to retire the animals from performances. Blackfish points out that the younger animals who can still learn to survive in the wild should be released, while the older animals, including Tilikum, can live in giant ocean pens where they can be cared for and would have more room than they currently have at SeaWorld.
With a limited theatrical release in the summer of 2013, Blackfish reached a mass audience when it aired multiple times on CNN in October of 2013. The 83-minute documentary, rated PG-13, is now available through streaming Netflix.