Should SeaWorld be Forced to Shut Down?

While bored over winter break, I was scrolling through Netflix when I found something called Blackfish. It’s a documentary that begins with the whale attack of a trainer at SeaWorld in 2010, but it uncovers so much more that made me question whether I ever want to visit SeaWorld.

In the film, SeaWorld participates in the capturing of killer whales to be brought back for training and entertainment at its facilities. In order to capture these whales, bombs and nets are used to herd these very intelligent mammals as seen below. This video displays both the intelligence of the whales and the brutal measures SeaWorld officials took to obtain them. When you here the crying from both offspring and family, it is heart wrenching.

As previously mentioned, the documentary begins with the attack of a well-known whale trainer. This whale trainer was attacked by one of the largest, if not the largest, male orca named Tilikum. When this happened, it seemed like a one-time occurrence in SeaWorld’s history; however, this was actually the third time such an incident occurred with Tilikum. Tilikum had previously killed, or is suspected to have killed, at least two additional people; but SeaWorld had managed to keep these incidents seemingly in the dark until the production of this film.

 Based on these actions, I believe that SeaWorld should be required to shut down because of all the questions that arise from Blackfish. It makes you wonder if other possible deaths may have occurred without the knowledge of the public.

If SeaWorld was to be shut down, the whales that live there would need to be humanely put down. This is a sad thought, but I say this because of the killer whale’s dependence upon its family as its main source of socialization. The whales that SeaWorld has on display are unable to be released back into the oceans because of their lack of a family and their need to be social. Unless the whale’s original family can be located, the whale would live a life of solitude in the ocean which is not good for such a social animal. However, some individuals, like the Whales and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), believe that whales that have been held in captivity do have the ability to be returned to the ocean. 

Leave a comment below if you have anything to say or questions in regards to the Blackfish documentary.