Review: BLACKFISH

Many families worldwide take vacations to SeaWorld in San Diego or Orlando to see the wondrous, beautiful and smart killer whales. Never did anyone imagine the world “killer” was literal until a tragic accident in 2010 that resulted in a trainer accident in which a female trainer was killed by the very animal she bonded with through the demanding confines of her job.

BLACKFISH is a very honest, eye-opening look at why these whales have been named “killers”, sheds light on their captivity and treatment under very inhumane conditions.

First we are given a history lesson of sorts concerning how whales were captured, placed into captivity and became main attractions at the park going all the way back to Shamu and ending with Tilikum. A family tree is even shown of Tilikum illustrating how he was used as a breeder and how many whales in captivity carry his gene, which in itself already poses a threat of future incidents.

We hear from numerous former Sea World trainers how exciting and thrilling the job was, but also the lack information concerning the danger of the mammals they are working with and how dome under death threatening circumstances were able to keep their composure.  This is a very disturbing example of how corporations and money will do anything.