Blackfish?

[JimPanky]

What's everyone's thoughts on blackfish?
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/cnn-film ... index.html
http://seaworld.com/en/ourcare/Letter
http://melissaasmith.hubpages.com/hub/blackfish-film

[JimPanky]

I am a huge advocate of animals rights. As I have said b4 I am starting to volunteer at an animal shelter in January.
Just the fact of having animals in captivity and using them in shows is not by itself inhumane. Animals in captivity and used in shows can be treated humanely or inhumanely like most circuses. A lot of circuses are notorious for terrible treatment of their animals. This is just one example. There any many cases where animals are used for human entertainment with 0 regard for the fact that they are living beings.

From what I have seen and what I know I do not feel that this is happening at SeaWorld. It seems to me that they treat the animals well.

I can't say 100% without interacting with the animals myself if they are being treated fairly, but from a far from what I do know it seems to me that they probably are.
I feel there should be much more outrage for circuses than for SeaWorld. Most circuses abuse is very clear. This has gotten better in some of the major Circus names with pressure from animal rights groups but there is a lot mor work to be done with circuses. Let's focus our attention where it is needed the most.

[Superman]

I found it absolutely disturbing, while also being informative and captivating. As a big fan of documentary's, it was one of the most well done I've ever seen. That being said, I wish I knew what to do to help the cause. Jim, do you know of any online petitions or anything of that sort? I feel like I should be helping the cause for any animal rights wether it be sea world, circuses, zoos, etcetera.

[JimPanky]

where do I begin. There's peta but they are very radical. I do not agree with all of their stances and I am against the level they sometimes take their protests.
http://www.aspca.org/ is great as well as animal local animal shelter when it comes to pets (P.A.W.S. ,Animal Welfare League, Humane Society is one of the best in my opinion, even stores like Petsmart accept donations especially around the holidays).
http://www.wwf.org/ is the best when it comes to wildlife.
http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/?g ... MgodlmoASQ is a site fighting for animal rights (Jane Goodall is a a board member).
Jane Goodall also has http://rootsandshoots.org/ and http://www.janegoodall.org/ (Jane Goodall Institute)
Disney has: http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/citizen ... ation-fund
If you are broke like me a don't have money. The biggest contribution you can make is by finding an organization around you that does something for animals and volunteering your time.

Of course you can also support movements and protests. Be careful following PETA though. They cross the line and I dont agree with all their stances either.
For one they pretty much believe everyone should transition towards going vegan. (I did actually try going vegetarian for animal rights concerns)

[Chitown]

Saw it about a month ago. Thought it was completely one-sided. The only thing I would want done is to drastically make the orcas pools bigger.

Sea World has finally lashed back.

Sea World responds.

[w00dland]

I've responded to lots of people about what I think about Blackfish. I saw it around a month ago in my hotel room and while I certainly was interested enough to watch the entire thing, I did not think it showed the "truth" about how Seaworld cares for its creatures.

Being someone who has helped run public aquariums (though none of these dealt with marine mammals) I can guarantee that Seaworld has some of the finest facilities and best care in the industry. In San Diego alone Seaworld rescues stranded creatures on the California coast (turtles, sea lions, etc) along with even farming Seabass to be released in the ocean to help cut down on depleting ocean stocks. They invest massively in their displays and enclosures and from what I've heard from friends who are aquarists with the park, their enrichment programs (interactions with the creatures, to help prevent boredom, depression and help with overall health - yes, sea creatures can get depressed) are pretty fantastic.

That all being said - you can do as much as you can for an Orca in captivity, but an animal that size that roams the oceans throughout its life and has a very large amount of intelligence you must wonder whether its possible for us to really give them what they need to live a good life.

Movements like this have happened in other countries in the past, and its possible this may the start of a movement here. I like how Seaworld is pushing back, because that documentary was itself a circus of disgruntled trainers and an old, underfunded park that should never had tried to keep whales. You can tell that Seaworld has been changing its business plan over the past decade anyway, moving more toward theme park rides and shows and slowly moving away from some of its animal shows. Difficult though, when Shamu has been your biggest draw for decades.

[Chitown]

Now the facts are coming out about the real agenda behind this one-sided film. Good read.

Blackfish B.S.

[Chitown]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Blackfish gets b!tch slapped.

[Luxornv]

I thought it was interesting to watch, but I agree that it was incredibly one sided. I know SeaWorld is a large company and now has investors to answer to. They are mostly about money. However, to remain successful the way they have over the last several years, they have to be doing something right. If they didn't, then they'd end up like Sealand, one of the other parks featured in Blackfish. I'm just speculating now, but one way I'm guessing they have remained successful is to recruit some of the best people to study and care for their animals. Furthermore, they do promote conservation in their parks a lot.

The other thing I found stupid about the movie was the former trainers complaining about how dangerous it was working with the whales and other animals. Well, let's just think about this. They're working with huge animals. This is the kind of job that has some very different risks than most other jobs out there. I don't think anyone here has "getting crushed or eaten by a whale" in their occupational hazards. If they don't want to take that risk, then they need to quit (which it seems the ones in the movie did). I'm not saying the company shouldn't take measures to make sure their workers stay safe, but there are some work place risks you just cannot eliminate. Some people aspire to that kind of job though, and they need to weigh if the risks of the job are worth the reward of it (usually money and personal feelings).

[CoasterCale]

I also saw it about a month ago. I also agree with the fact that it was rather one sided. The animal activist in me says "never going to SeaWorld", The Coaster fanatic in me says "Go ride Manta and Kraken." So my compromise is whenever I do go, I will go purely for the attractions and see none of the animal shows.

[FParker185]

Sounds like you'll be paying full price for like 1/5 of the experience.

[CoasterCale]

Even before I saw the documentary, I wasn't that interested in the shows. It just persuaded me more to not see them.