topic Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary ••• in Community Chat

••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

newziesuzie — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:20:13 GMT

We're back from a 4th of July picnic and decided to
watch the documentary film "Blackfish".

("Blackfish is a 2013 documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films for wider release.

Blackfish focuses on Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales." --Wikipedia)

It made me sad.

I hope we figure out a better way to give better care to these
beautiful creatures. I don't think they should be in
captivity.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Kachina624 — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:38:45 GMT

I think the documentry, which we discussed here, made an impact on Seaworld. I've been seeing commercials here where they say say they love their Orcas and treat them well. They say it's been 30 years since they took one from the wild. I think Blackfish really hurt their bottom line.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Irshgrl31201 — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:46:37 GMT

Yes, I watched that when it first came out. It was so hard to watch. Once was enough for me. I cried for days after watching that. If I thought about that movie for a day or two or even a week after I watched it, I would start bawling my eyes out.

Yes, SeaWorld is suffering and that stupid commercial drives me crazy. I hate that they use the word collect instead of capture. Did they really think using the word collect would make us feel differently? Many performers have boycotting performing there.

It is hard for me to believe that if anyone has watched BlackFish that they would still want to spend their money there. I can't imagine anyone wanting to go there for entertainment.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

PenneyT — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:47:19 GMT

I thought it was a very powerful film. Shows the dangers to the animals AND the humans.
Personally, I really dislike seeing large animals, especially hunters, confined to such small spaces. It would be like having to live in a closet. That alone wouldn't physically do you in, but it sure wouldn't be healthy physically or mentally.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Plaid Pants2 — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:53:27 GMT

@newziesuzie wrote:

We're back from a 4th of July picnic and decided to
watch the documentary film "Blackfish".

("Blackfish is a 2013 documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films for wider release.

Blackfish focuses on Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales." --Wikipedia)

It made me sad.

I hope we figure out a better way to give better care to these
beautiful creatures. I don't think they should be in
captivity.

What do you propose that we do with the whales that were born in captivity, raised in captivity, and Sea World is the only home that they know, and have ever known? It's not like you can realease them back to any old pod. They are use to humans feeding them. So what's the answer?

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

KarenaJeannette — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:54:06 GMT

Yes, it was an excellent documentary. I am glad I watched it. I don't believe animals should be used for entertainment. Whenever any living thing is used as a commodity, I don't believe for a minute that it will be treated in a humane manner.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Plaid Pants2 — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:57:50 GMT

@Karena wrote:
Yes, it was an excellent documentary. I am glad I watched it. I don't believe animals should be used for entertainment. Whenever any living thing is used as a commodity, I don't believe for a minute that it will be treated in a humane manner.

So, not one single person who works with animals ever treats them humanely?

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

NickNack1 — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 01:58:47 GMT

I thought it would be too sad. I knew I would sit and cry for two hours, and I didn't want to do that. I'm sure it's very educational, but I know how I feel about these animals at Sea World in captivity, and I don't like it.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

dooBdoo — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 02:03:24 GMT

The film made me cry, too.

So much of it was heartbreaking, but particularly the separation of the mother and baby orca... the palpable grief of the mother and we can guess her baby suffered the same pain.

The segment is available on YouTube, but it's unsettling and heartwrenching so I won't post a link here.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

nunya — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 02:04:31 GMT

I watched it, and agree once was enough.

the tanks are so tiny and hearing the baby cry for it's mother did me in.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

newziesuzie — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 03:20:43 GMT

Thanks for the posts.

Plaid Pants I don't know the answers to your questions.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 03:42:07 GMT

Most of this thing--it's hardly a real documentary--has been debunked. Sea World hasn't taken whales from the wild in 35 years, the sounds of mama and baby were faked, and the whales live about as long in captivity as they do in the wild.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

lemmonee — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 03:43:30 GMT

http://seaworldcares.com/the-facts/truth-about-blackfish/

I have seen where this so called documentary has many untruths. You mentioned seeing some where that Sea World must be making changes in response, more like they are trying to let everyone know what the truth is. Blackfish has several untruths..... the seen where the baby whales were crying for their moms -- that was faked. I am not trying to say we should keep whales and miss treat any animals. I love animals, and have been a volunteer at my local Pet Adoption center since I was a teenager. Check this out for your selves and decide. Please I don't mean to make anyone angry, but it is very easy today for falsehoods to be believed, since it was called a documentary, I don't like to go to Zoos myself, but vicious lies and untruths should be exposed as well as animal miss treatment. Again check this out for yourselves. I enjoy all post and again, not trying to stomp on anyone's toes. Here is some of what it says about the whales being separated-- the facts. I have a link at the top I don't know if you can access or not but you can check as well. Go to fact checker too.

Separation: The film highlights two separations. In one instance, involving a whale named Takara, the film leaves you with the impression she was a calf when separated. In fact, Takara was 12 years old when she was moved. In the second, involving a whale named Kalina, the film misleadingly shows footage of a calf that is only days old. Kalina was moved when she was 4 ½ years old because she was disruptive to her mother and other whales. We do not separate killer whale moms and calves, and in the rare occurrences that we do move whales among our parks, we do so only in order to maintain a healthy social structure.

All of God's creatures are wonderful. Please don't take this in a bad way, If I worked with animals, I would want folks to know that we were doing the very best we could. I think back several decades there were problems, but they have been corrected, it is good to keep this in the light to make sure they do take care of the creatures.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 03:44:46 GMT

DooBdoo, the mama/baby was FAKED.

Don't believe everything you see because there's an agenda behind this pile of you know what, and it didn't involve the truth.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 03:47:03 GMT

Plaid Pants, you're right. I don't know where people got the idea that Mother Nature is this great thing that's benign at worst. Nature is obscenely cruel, and whales in the wild have their own issues.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

newziesuzie — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 05:20:07 GMT

Thanks blahblahvampemerblah and lemmonee,

I looked online and the only "debunkers" are either Sea World
or Sea World employees or others associated with or
paid by Sea World, not exactly unbiased,
do you have links
to independent unbiased debunkers?

Tia.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

surfk — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 04:36:44 GMT

Whales have their own issues.

I like that. lol

Personally, and it has nothing to do with the subject matter of the film, but I think CNN repeats that documentary way too often. Clearly by its number of showings, it has its own agenda in continually airing it.

Obviously its a controversial topic. Its hard to believe that even in the best of circumstances and with the best of intentions that captivity of any wild animal is the "best" idea.

While perhaps some of the Seaworld animals would have been ripped apart in seconds out in the oceans...that is the way of nature.

They may call it "Mother Nature" but she can be a cold mutha, sometimes.

I simply think that we, as audience, have other means to gain knowledge about wild animals without needing to lock them into cages, habitats or tanks.

I mean, I think we "get" the idea of a monkey by now. We don't need to see 20 of them going stir crazy in a polyfoam diorama to get that they like to groom one another when not eating bananas.

We have photography, mass media...film (as the documentary demonstrates). We don't need to gawk at a magnificent gorilla from behind a plexiglass wall anymore.

Study them in nature. Maybe we'd take the environment more seriously and more actively preserve their natural habitats if we didn't have this idea that "at least there are zoos or dolphin shows".

We might consider other things a bigger priority if we were truly committed to preserving various animal species. Maybe we wouldn't be so quick to cut down rain forest, pollute the oceans and over-develop savannahs if we really TRULY cared about the animals.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

KingstonsMom — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 12:49:21 GMT

@blahblahvampemerblah wrote:
Most of this thing--it's hardly a real documentary--has been debunked. Sea World hasn't taken whales from the wild in 35 years, the sounds of mama and baby were faked, and the whales live about as long in captivity as they do in the wild.

"De-bunked"? By who? Sea World?

There's a lot of actual undercover video footage online, if you just look for it AND several former trainers and mployees have written books, confirming the abuse & mistreatment.

Of course, I'm sure they are just "'disgruntled' employees, but no one can deny what I see with my own 2 eyes on those videos.

Did you know that the orca's pools are so shallow, the orcas get sunburn on their backs, that SW employees cover with black paint, before their 'performances'?

Yes, my family & I wear t-shirts that say, "Boycott Seaworld".

BTW, please provide links to the info you posted above, as if they were facts.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

Auntie Goose — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 14:43:58 GMT

This movie is old. I saw it a year or two ago. I remember donating to the Humane Society right after I saw it. They are one of the few charities who help the whales.

Re: ••• "Blackfish" Documentary •••

keeper of the koi — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 14:50:22 GMT

We watched it lastnite as well. There is usually 3 sides to every story .Somewhere there is truth ...I refuse to support animal captivity especially with the huge animals that cannot be made comfortable in man-made surroundings.Bad things happen when wildanimals are used as a way to make money. Or be pets.Way to many horrible tragic incidents.These events are not fabricated. Way to many former trainers speaking up . They are truly affected by this obviously. The bigger issue is until All animals are treated as living beings and not a simple commodity or property, these beautiful animals and all animals will be allowed to suffer simply because they have no protecteors or rights.... Something to really think about....Maryanne