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Leticia Cruz
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 37
22 February 2015
Orcas Do Not Belong in Captivity
Sea World has over 70 recorded reports of killer whale trainer accidents, which they hide
from incoming Sea World trainers (Incidents between Humans and Killer Whales in Captivity).
Even with this high number of incidents, in Sea World and other marine parks parks refuse to are
not for the idea of releaseing their orcas into the wild. Some of these accidents have happened
during shows, and This sentence didnt flow well and wasnt grammatically correct. aAudience
members have seen trainer incidents with the whales and are emotionally scarred byof the
physical violence these animals can inflict. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, a write-director of
documentary films, a mother, has taken her daughters to Sea World and remembers an incident
where trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by Tilikum, an orca at which SeaWorld Park has
imprisoned for breeding purposes. in captivity. Cowperthwaite could not understand why a
reported intelligent whale would attack kill the trainer that takes care of him (Cowperthwaite,
Blackfish Official Film Site). For this reason Cowperthwaite used her filmmaker background to
direct her controversial documentary, Blackfish;. it This documentary is centered on Tilikum and
how his training and captivity has led to deaths and incidents of trainers. Blackfish uses the
appeal to ethos in both positive and negative forms in order to make its argument that humans do
not have the right to capture whales and keep them imprisoned for entertainment purposes. Ethos

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is established from the trainers, researchers, and the lack of participation from Sea World
management within the film.
The documentary, Blackfish, uses the rhetorical appeal of positive ethos to establish
credibility through the use of the former Sea World trainers. The film showcases the trainers as
being nave over the amount of incidents killer whales have had with trainers and their
suspicions with management. In the beginning of the film the viewers are introduced to the
former trainers of Sea World, they share their story that inspired them to work at Sea World.
Formal trainer Bridgett Pirtle shares the emotional attachment trainers have with the whales, I
loved figuring out how to communicate with the animals, and I loved what they gave back to
me., former trainer Bridgett Pirtle shares the emotional attachment trainers have with the
whales. The audience members are taken back to their childhood and remember the attraction of
Sea World and the entertainment of the animals. Viewers understand the pull of Sea World, the
trainers continue with how they applied to Sea World. The audience would assume that it takes a
Masters Degree in Marine Biology to be a trainer thats what former trainer Kim Ashdown
thought but was surprised when in actuality it really is more about personality and how god you
can swim (Blackfish). The film does establishes credibility for the trainers because they were
former trainers sharing their perspective, but it also shows how even the trainers had little
knowledge over the animals they would be training, whales. Former trainer Jeffrey Ventre left
SeaWorld after eight years and pursued his Ph.D. in natural resource management; he informed
himself over the various myths of whales. The majority of trainers in the film left SeaWorld to
pursue higher education and are now activists for the Orca Project, raising awareness of the
treatment of orcas in SeaWorld and water parks (Zimmermann, The Killer). The film may have
shown these post-educated trainers to build credibility and to convince the audience that they are

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now fully educated in the biological and behavioral characteristics of orcas. The documentary
also uses credible researchers to support their claim that orcas do not belong in captivity for
entertainment purposes. Revision Strategy: I decided that this paragraph would accurately
demonstrate rhetorical analysis. I added credibility to the trainers and explained why the film
used them for ethos.Blackfish does a great job in showcasing the amount of love the trainers have
for the whales, but the majority of them state that they had no idea of the deaths Tilikum was
responsible for.
The film uses credible researchers to convince audience members that the captivity of
whales for our watchful pleasure is not right. The documentary introduces Dr. Lori Marino, a
also uses neuroscientist neuroscientist, her research focuses on cetacean and primate intelligence
(Morell, Lori Marino: Leader) Revision Strategy: One of my main priorities for this paragraph
was to introduce my sources. Lori Marino to build positive ethos and convince viewers that
whales do not belong in captivity.She argues that All whales in captivity are psychologically
traumatized (Blackfish). She is a credible source that builds positive ethos within the film.
Marino agrees with the trainers and researcher Howard Garrett, a former researcher in the Center
for Whale Research and co-founder of Orca Network, Revision Strategy: I added credibility to
Howard Garret who states that the orcas do not act aggressively with each other in the wild
(Orca Network Contact). The film uses both researchers to argue the point that whales do not
belong in captivity. They also correct misconcpetions of whales, later explained. Whales. They
are one of the most intelligent animals in the wild , they are very social animals. This is one of
the reasons why they are taken from the wild because they are interactive with humans; they are
perfect for entertainment purposes. But, by capturing whales and training them for shows,

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SeaWorld and other waterpars are mistreating them. The film showcases this by providing
evidence for managements lies. .
Blackfish also uses the appeal to a heavy amount of negative ethos in a negative form by
s todiscrediting the motives and morals of the owners of SeaWorld and other marine park
convince the audience that whales do not belong in captivity. Revision Strategy: correcting my
grammar and language errors so the sentence is clear and understandable. Throughout the film,
the expertise that trainers have over whales is challenged by researchers, specifically trainers
knowledge over a whales life span and health. , B but its not the trainers who are misinformed,
its management that does not inform the trainers. The former trainers were brainwashed to state
false facts to the audience at Sea World. Midway through the film viewers listen to the amount of
testimony trainers give, affirming that the whales live 25-30 years in captivity and in the wild;
not only that, but they state that whales actually live longer in captivity because of veterinary
care. This is a lie, before this correction the sentence was too vague so I added more to it to
clarify my point. . But, the the film discredits Sea World by having Howard Garret an orca
researcher say that whales actually live up to a 100 years in the wild. Sea Worlds management
as well claimed that the whales are one happy family, when in reality they are not.Garret Howard
I changed the researchers name since this is a scholarly article is seen again correcting this
misconception and tells the viewer that the whales act micro-aggressive because they are from
different cultures. John Hardgrove, a formal trainer states that these animals have different
genes, and different languages. The film build credibility by discrediting Sea World. Its
effective because the audience sees countless videos of Sea World staff and trainers give false
information to their guests. Right after these segments, Cowperthwaite adds Garett Howard a
credible researcher over orcas. The film also tells the viewers that they have tried on several

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occasions to have Sea World defend themselves or give a testimony on these claims, but they
decline to do so (Catsoulis, Do Six-Ton Captives Dream of Freedom?). Sea World management
is digging a deeper hole in their credibility and the audience is being successfully persuaded to
agree with the films argument, the whales do not belong in captivity.
Upon further analysis of Sea World management, former trainers have tried to voice their
opinion regarding managements decision but would be rebuked. They would be punished by
being scolded in front of other trainers and do arbitrary tasks such as night watch, or not being
able to have any interaction with the animals (Roberts Samantha Berg and Carol Ray Talk
Blackfish). Trainers would go to management to report issues concerning abnormal behavior
with animals. Management wouldnt do anything about it and would tell the trainers that it was
not their job to correct them or suggest opinions over the matter. Sea World management makes
it their mission to give as little information they can to the trainers so they wont tarnish their
reputation or the danger that captive whales have on people. The films shows four deaths of
trainers, the former trainers recall that they had little knowledge or no knowledge. If news would
reach them about a trainers death then management would tell them and the public that it was a
trainers error (Boniface, SeaWorld Terror). In other words, it was the trainers fault that the
orca grabbed him/her and flung them around until they died. Sea World management did not
want to inform the trainers or the public of these deaths or accidents because it would indicate
that these whales are dangerous. Not only that but these incidents could lead an investigation of
Sea Worlds treatment of the animals and could possibly end the captivation of the whales.
Viewers are being convinced that the whales do not belong in captivity because the whales have
health problems in captivity and act aggressive towards humans to the point of death. The New
York Times reports Dr. Christopher Dold, Sea Worlds vice president of veterinary services

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point out that only one trainer had died in a whale encounter at SeaWorld parks (Ciepley). This
excerpt was taken after the release of Blackfish, management continues to deny that Tilikum had
killed three people, trainers and a bystander. I added another source to have more credibility and
to discredit SeaWorld further showing that the film has more credibility.
Sea World management could replace Tilikum or even release him into the wild because
of the number of deaths he has caused and his aggressive behavior. But, this wont happen
because management wants Tilikum for breeding purposes. His aggressive behavior is passed
down to his offspring and in the future they may be the ones lashing out on trainers and even
killing them.
The documentary, Blackfish persuades the viewers to realize that humans do not have a
right to capture animals for entertainment purposes. The film establishes their argument by using
positive and negative ethos by having former trainers of Sea World, researchers, and the silence
of Sea World management when producing the documentary. The further practice of captivity for
animals at Sea World will result in more incidents with trainers and the amount of death rate will
rise.

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Works Cited
Blackfish. Dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Prod. Manny Oteyza. Magnolia Pictures, 2013. Film.
Boniface, Susie. "SeaWorld Terror - Film Exposes Dark Side of Killer Whales Involved in "70 Human
Injuries"" Mirror. N.p., 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Catsoulis, Jeannette. "Do Six-Ton Captives Dream of Freedom?" The New York Times. The New York
Times, 18 July 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Cieply, Michael. "SeaWorlds Unusual Retort to a Critical Documentary." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 18 July 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
Cowperthwaite, Gabriela. "Blackfish Official Film Site." Blackfish Official Film Site. N.p., 2013. Web.
22 Feb. 2015.
"Incidents between Humans and Killer Whales in Captivity -a Longer List than the Parks Would like to
Tell You!" Incidents between Humans and Killer Whales in Captivity. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb.
2015.
Lee, Jane J. "Former SeaWorld Trainer: Stop Using Killer Whales for Entertainment." National
Geographic. National Geographic Society, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
Morell, Virginia. "Lori Marino: Leader of a Revolution in How We Perceive Animals | Innovators."
National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
"Orca Network Contact Information." Orca Network Contact Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar.
2015.
Roberts, Sheila. "Samantha Berg and Carol Ray Talk BLACKFISH, Working at SeaWorld, and
More."Collider. Complex Media Inc., 17 July 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Zimmermann, Tim. "The Killer in the Pool." Outside Online. N.p., 30 July 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
I added sources I used in my analysis and gave them credit by putting them into my work cited

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