Blackfish, a powerful
new documentary film by Gabriela Cowrperthwaite explores the inhumane
capture and treatment of killer whales by marine entertainment parks.
The documentary takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride from
breathtaking footage of orcas swimming in the wild to the cruel capture
of orca babies. In their natural habitat, these magnificent mammals swim
100 miles a day. In captivity, they are barely able to move around,
damage their teeth on metal railings, and act out aggressively towards
each other.
Interviewee John Crowe cried as he describes the legacy of orca capture for entertainment purposes, spotlighting the notorious Penn Cove captures in 1970 by scientists
in Washington state. Mothers and mature family members refused to
leave the babies behind in the nets; several adult whales died. The
scientists then cut the whales open, filled their bodies with rocks,
sinking them, to destroy of evidence of what they had done. Orcas'
brains are much more developed emotionally and socially than those of
humans; they live in social groups called pods; males never leave their
mothers. Separating members from their pods is an enormous act of
emotional and social violence.
Blackfish explains how killer whales become deformed (their tails
bend in a weird way); their teeth and health are compromised, and why
their life span is reduced from that of human lifespan equivalent to
25-30 years in captivity.
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