Blackfish By Gabriela Cowperthwaite

This essay, is going to analyse the documentary film, Blackfish, by Gabriela Cowperthwaite in 2013, in order to raise awareness for the captivity of Killer whales in general, and in the Sea-world industry. Their documentary is based on a dreary story of the killer whale Tilikum, and through the cases that result in the life of these whales, this film reminds us on how limited knowledge we have on these animals, and how personal relationship takes place according to its purpose.

In addition, this documentary film provides many evidence of witnesses of casualty with he killer whales, perspectives, opinions, and a collection of first hand experiences. To prove that Sea-world in this documentary is different than in reality, throughout the
However, the information processed onto the media is not only vague, but also false, as Killer whales are constantly blamed for the cause of these deaths without a detailed and logical reasoning. For example, when the death of Dawn Brancheau was released on media, lots of information were controlled from the industry of Sea-world, and the only information was Tilikum, the orca, being violent with Brancheau during the attack. However, as claiming the truth from the documentary, Dawn had not only made mistakes such as tying her hair in a ponytail, but she was also overly confident with the training. Tilikum’s frustration could’ve been one of the reason for this attack, but trainer Brancheau had also made mistakes that lead to the cause of her death. Samantha Berg, a former Sea-world trainer also states that if Dawn was to be alive, she would’ve admitted the mistakes she had made during the training session. Thus, information as such are controlled as it could decrease the sales in their industry; this brings upon a vicious image upon Killer whales whom are frustrated of captivity. Through the vague information provided, the industry tries to hide the truth about these ferocious deaths for their own benefit; makes them unreliable and untrustworthy. Also, it has been confirmed that deaths resulting from Killer whales are predicted or expected, but no action is taken place to prevent this from occurring. Documentary and interviews state that the reason these whales are killing trainers are due to forced captivity, training, and lack of knowledge or care upon these