The documentary, Blackfish, directed and produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, tells the tale of Tilikum, a performing killer whale who was put in captivity for thirty years. During those thirty years, Tilikum developed aggressive habits and killed three people. The film shows live clips of the killer whale in action and gives facts that are meant to anger and disturb the viewer.

Junior Katie Lucchesi says, “The documentary really opened my eyes on the cruelty towards whales and the atrocities committed by places like Sea World.”  She says, “Seeing the small pools the whales had to live in was very sad, and made me realize the living conditions for these animals are not what they need to be.”

Another topic that the movie covers is the importance of industry versus the importance of the whale’s health and well-being. Maggie Cummings, another member of the junior class, expresses her disturbance after watching the film.

Maggie Cummings says, “The documentary made me extremely angry that business would put the lives of both human and animal lives in danger just to make money.” She adds, “Blackfish has made me realize how the love of money these days really has clouded our judgment and the line between what is right and what is wrong.”

Katie Lucchesi seems to agree. She says, “I think people need to stop attending shows at places like Sea World, because it only encourages and supports their corporation.”

Blackfish gives the viewer facts about the state of whales in captivity versus whales in the wild. For example, whales in the captivity have a collapsed dorsal fin, whereas whales in the wild have flat, healthy dorsal fins.

In addition, “The people who work for sea world were trained to tell their customers false facts about the whales,” says Maggie Cummings, who recalls certain information from the movie. “[The trainers at Seaworld] lie and say whales live longer in captivity,” she says. “They say that the flopped over fin is something that all captive whales have in common with whales in the wild, when in actuality less than five percent of whales in the wild actually do,” she adds.

Ms. Mantegna reflects on a SeaWorld show that she witnessed approximately twenty years ago. She says, “[The dorsal fin] was partially collapsed,” She adds, “I remember thinking it was broken.” Ms. Mantegna says, “I also remember that the trainers addressed this as a normal reaction to their environment.”

Maggie Cummings says, “The most appalling facts I learned was that sea world knew the danger that keeping whales like Tilikum in captivity would entail, but they ignored it and put people’s lives at risk.” She adds, “When the whales did show aggression or killed someone, they would cover it up as trainer’s error and not take responsibility for it.”

Maggie Cummings says, “SeaWorld claims that they do not separate the mothers from their babies but the documentary shows multiple times that they do.” She adds, “This is wrong since in the wild the family units stay together for life.”

Ms. Mantegna recalls the trainers’ actions during the whale show. She says, “They uses whistles, food incentives and hand signals both on the surface of the water and below the water.”

Ms. Mantegna says, “[The whale’s pool] seemed large enough and [the trainers] emphasized that.” She adds, “However, when [the trainers] gave the statistics about how deep the whales can dive and how far they travel when in the ocean, it made the tank seem like a puddle.”

The whales perform tricks with people inside the pool, which leads to potential casualties from the powerful animals. Maggie Cummings says, “After the last time Tilikum killed someone, the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] sued SeaWorld.”

The documentary explains that a law was passed that forbids trainers to be in the actual tank with the whales. However, the government has done nothing to put the whales back where they belong or stop taking these animals from the wild.

Ms. Mantegna says, “[The whales] did a lot of breaching, jumping up for fish, and jumping completely out of the water to splash the crowd.” She adds, “They also did a lot with the trainers, pushing them around in the tank with their nose.” She says, “I remember the whale pushing the trainer really high above the water. The trainer also rode the whale like a horse on its back.”

Maggie Cummings says, “The documentary made me incredibly sad because the main whale keeps getting passed through the system and gets blamed for his violent actions.” She adds, “A number of people who have seen [Blackfish] have taken a stand by spreading awareness and by boycotting sea world.”