Down the Rabbit Hole

Blackfish - a personal take on a global movement

CNN debuted Blackfish last night and I watched it. I also watched a few of the post-viewing panel shows immediately following the broadcast. I'm still digesting everything this morning.

First and foremost, I admit, without any real shame, that I am a child of Seaworld. My parents took us there as children, at least a few times. For me, it only took that first visit to convince me that my true calling was to be a Seaworld trainer. My siblings became brilliant surrogates for orcas and dolphins as I practiced what I believed to be, the skill set of my destined career. The fact is, I fell in love at Seaworld. I fell in love with the sounds, the smells, those shiny multi-toned wetsuits, the animals and in particular, those Killer whales. I believed along with the millions of other people, that this place was magical. I raised my hand as high as I could, praying along with every other child, that I would be the one selected to go up and meet Shamu. The experiences I had at Seaworld were the foundation for a lifelong fascination with the ocean and the inspiration for my pursuit of marine biology for at least a large part of my educational life. My attraction to the Killer whales in particular fueled a field focus on apex predators in general and instilled in my a passion to understand and learn more about their important roles in the ocean's complex ecosystem. Seaworld was responsible in many real ways for the wonderful and enriching opportunities and experiences I had during my years of study: my stint as a High School aquanaut, my trips to Australia and New Zealand as part of youth science exchange, my Semester at Sea on a beautiful schooner and floating science lab, my semester of study in Hawaii on the big Island and so much more. While my friends were asking for cars for graduation, I was pleading for permission to do cage dives with Great Whites off the coast of California or camp out with the Orca pods in British Columbia. In summation, Seaworld turned on something inside me that may have forever lain dormant and unexplored. I can not help but think about that truth when I see the posts and hear the calls to boycott Seaworld as Blackfish is released to the world. I am, as a now more educated adult, seriously conflicted.

What Blackfish gets so right in this film are the basic facts about these magnificent animals...they are highly intelligent beings, capable of emotion connections and a sense of self-awareness virtually unparallelled in the animal kingdom. They are very social animals that maintain family bonds so strong that individual pods are really family groups that extend into multi generational communities, which researchers have discovered, develop their own habits, language and behaviors over time. These are animals that are known to regularly traverse great distances, hunt in highly evolved pack units and display remarkable problem-solving abilities. In the wild, they routinely react to humans with curiosity and remarkable amenability, never with aggression. It is my belief there is no marine mammal more ill-suited for captivity with the isolation, the lack of adequate space and the obvious restrictions to pursue their natural instincts to hunt, to communicate and socialize or to breed.

I saw in Blackfish, that while Seaworld is profiting from these animals, they are also providing a vehicle for exposure for generations like mine to see, and in some cases, touch these amazing animals. Without Seaworld, would we even know how much we could deeply care for Killer Whales? Without Seaworld, would we even be able to know or care why their captivity is so inherently wrong? I don't believe so. The trainers and animal custodians that participated in this film were clearly moved by the animals in their care, driven to protect them and form relationships, meaningful ones with them. I believe the vast majority of their peers feel exactly the same. Seaworld is not simply the corporate giant, the money-machine...it is also a collection of people brought together by their love for these animals. When accidents happen, they are heartbroken both for the loss of human life as well as for the impact on the animals. When they talked about separating the mothers from their babies, there was guilt and anger as well as sorrow and a very common grief. If you took a cross-section of people at Seaworld at all levels, you would find far more good, caring and concerned people than bad. I have to believe that.

So what's the answer? Boycotting Seaworld? Releasing the all captive Killer whales and their biological cousins around the world? I'm not sure I could answer today with any certainty. However, there are some things I support very strongly in the wake of viewing this film.

#1. Seaworld should cease any and all captive breeding practices. These animals are not breeding spontaneously. They are being farmed, artificially inseminated. Worse, Seaworld is introducing the bond and then routinely severing it by removing the calves from their mothers. Anyway you look at this, given the maternal and familial bonds these animals form, this is moral and ethically wrong. The Killer whale population, as far as I know, is not threatened by extinction. There is no reason, outside of sheer profitablity, to make these animals reproduce. Most states have banned puppy mills, isn't this not the same evil on a much grander scale? At the moment, this is by far the biggest problem I have with Seaworld.

#2. Seaworld should take a cue from some of the most respected zoological facilities in the world...develop actual habitats designed around the animal's care and comfort - not pools and tanks largely not updated over the last 30 years. Animals should be showcased for their natural beauties and abilities...don't ride them, don't make them do ridiculous tricks and behaviors that would never been seen in the wild. Wouldn't people be awed to see them up close, just being? - do we really need the music, the fanfare and spectacle to be impressed? No. I tell you this, just being on the other side of a viewing pane when an 11000lb Orca cruises by and locks eyes with yours...that's enough for most human beings to be awed, to fall in love. Seaworld recently responded that the concept of sea pens, ocean corrals were not suited for long-term care without stating any reasoning at all for that determination. So why not? Release at this point is not realistic nor in the best interest for many of these whales, so why not move them to a place that is more reminiscent of their habitat? Give them real seawater, the chance to catch their own food. The chance to live out their lives as close to naturally as they can.

#3. There a many ocean parks and aquariums around the world, perhaps none with the same resources available to Seaworld. Why not make the switch more toward actual education and conservation? Engagement is key here so ask the public to be involved as more than simply spectators. Educate first, starting with the staff. One of the most startling revelations for me in the film is when a senior trainer admits that once she left Seaworld and begin to seek knowledge about the whales, she realized that she really knew nothing about the animals she had trained. She knew how to train them, but not anything about them. Seaworld is missing an opportunity to be an innovator in change and conservation, they need only restructure, reassess, reapply talents and resources.

#4. The current population of captive orcas is a disadvantage. I'm not sure even the most respected marine biologist in the field could predict the changes these animals would have released back into the wild. Would their natural instincts find a way to the surface after their long years of captivity? Would they find adoptive pods that would welcome them as long-lost and distance relatives? Or would they be bullied, isolated, starved? I only know that these parks have created this situation and have the responsiblity to care for them in the best way possible for the animals. Stop breeding them, stop propagating Tilikum's bloodline, - become the moral caretakers of these magnificent animals and do right by them to the extent all the resources allow. If the young ones can be released and tracked, do it. Their survival may hold the key to other Killer whales gaining freedom. I'm not sure if releasing Tilikum is the answer for him...I only know his fate is one that makes me incredible sad. The image of him floating nearly lifeless for hours in his small tank, is tragic. Tilikum was not born with his aggression, it was not his nature. Aggression was nurtured in him, even if it was unintentional.

Will I boycott Seaworld? Would I support a worldwide effort to seek the boycotting of Seaworld? I still can't answer that. I will tell you that on a recent trip through Orlando airport while shopping for a gift for my daughter, I eyed the beautiful Seaworld store for a few minutes before passing it by. I can tell you that today, I would not take my daughter there. Ultimately, Seaworld's refusal to participate or respond to Blackfish in any substantial and appropriate manner, has left a bad taste in my mouth. Today I would not buy a ticket or purchase their products. Seaworld is not a zoo, not research facility...its a themepark. I have come to understand that. I believe however that they can change. I believe they have the resources to change for the better. I reserve the right to not condemn them, yet. If I had not be able to walk through those gates, I would have not been fundamentally changed in such a positive way myself. I'm really afraid that closing those gates forever may prove to be a bigger injustice to the future generations into who's hands we will leave this planet and its oceans.