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Vanessa Orosco
Professor. Lynda Haas
Writing 37
February 22, 2015
Killer Whales, Killer Lives
When Corinne Corwell and Nadine Kallen planned their visit to Sealand of the Pacific
they didnt expect to see much, maybe a whale splashing around or doing jumps here and there.
However, they never thought they would be witnessing the death of Keltie Byrne, a Sealand
trainer, right before their very eyes. Nor did they think that there would be others who would
witness the death of trainers as they did .Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and
released in 2013 at The Sundance Film Festival, is a documentary that follows the story of killer
whales in captivity and the dangers that followed for both humans and whales. Blackfish uses
the appeal to ethos in a positive and negative way in order to make its argument that humans
dont have the right to capture whales and use them for entertainment purposes. Blackfish wants
viewers to see the lack of care Sea World shows towards their orcas and how they instead care
more for their entertainment use, and wants them to look at performance whales differently after
watching the documentary.
The film effectively uses interviews of former Sea World whale trainers as part of its
appeal to ethos. These trainers are credible and believable because they interacted with these
whales and worked at Sea World so they know what theyre talking about. Not only are former

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trainers used for the ethos appeal, but Blackfish also used the testimonies of Lori Marimo, a
neuroscientist that has studied the brain of orcas, and of John Crowe, one of the divers sent out to
capture Sea Worlds whales. These two people are also credible because one of them has studied
orca brains and the other is an eye witness to the capturing of these killer whales and how it
potentially affected them.
While working at Sea world the trainers shown in the documentary witnessed many things
that were morally wrong. There testimonies reflect their credibility that would otherwise be
discredited by Sea World, because they were actually there and were witness to what it is they
are saying. One example of this are the trainers statements of Sea Worlds killer whale Tilikum.
Every testimony given about Tilikum reflect his capture and captivity negatively. Beginning with
his capture in 1983, the diver involved, John Crowe, regrets ever having capturing the whale
knowing it was wrong, it was like kidnapping a baby from its mother. After Tilikums capture
he was moved to Sealand of the Pacific. There he was abused and attacked by the other whales in
captivity with him. Former Sealand trainer, Eric Walters, states that untrained Tilikum was paired
with already trained orcas and when asked to the same behavior and he would mess up, both
orcas would be punished with food being withheld. In turn, Tilikum would be attacked be
attacked by the other orca and the trainers would come in the morning to see him covered in
rakes and blood. Trainers claim that this psychological and physical abuse is what potentially led
to him killing a trainer at Sealand and other attacks and killings at Sea World.
Once the film moves to Sea World, the former trainers in the documentary tell of the orcas
in captivity and how it potentially led to the attacks and killings of other trainers. One trainer
tells of the time experienced whale trainer Ken Peters was nearly killed by Kasatka an orca in

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captivity, when she repeatedly dragged Peters down and drowned him. On another account
another whale,Tilikum attacked and killed Dawn Brancheau, a Sea World trainer. Former Sea
World trainers stated how shocked and in disbelief they were when they found out, and some
even give eye witness accounts of the attack.
Dawns death in the documentary then leads the viewers towards the negative appeals to
ethos in the film when Sea World tries to sway the blame of the killing to the trainer, and shows
how Sea World is more focused on the entertainment aspects of its orcas instead of their safety
and wellbeing along with the trainers they hire, these and other facts make the marine park
sound like a combination circus, super-max prison and slave labor camp(Robertebert.com).
Throughout the film mostly everything the former trainers say help to prove the negative appeals
to ethos. There are many instances in Blackfish where former trainers make statements that
proves Sea world only cares about using orcas for their entertainment purposes. One example of
this is when Sea World took away an orcas calf because it was hindering the performance. Sea
World gave no care about what it would do to the mother and only caring how it would enhance
their shows.
Another instance where the film shows a negative ethos appeal is when would keep their
trainers in the dark about previous orca attacks on trainers and then put those trainers at fault for
their only death and injuries. Former trainers Samantha Berg and Jeff Ventre claim they knew
nothing of previous attacks on trainers at Sea World or of a trainers death by one of their current
orcas. However, when Sea World trainers were informed about attacks and killings they were
made to believe that these incidents were due to trainer error(blackfish). This shows Sea
Worlds unwillingness to admit that these incidents were due to the violent behaviors of the orcas

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and instead threw the fault on the trainers. Not only did Sea World give false information about
these attacks, they also give false information to its park visitors. Whereas in the wild orcas live
up to 100(females) and 50-60(males) years old, in captivity these orcas only make it to around
25-30 years old; but Sea World claims that this life span is the normal life span of all orcas, and
in fact live longer while in captivity(blackfish). They also lay false claim when they say flopping
dorsal fins are very common in orcas, when in fact less than 1% of wild orcas have collapsed
dorsals, while 100% of orcas in captivity have collapsed dorsals. This shows Sea Worlds
incredibility by putting what they say up next to actual research and facts about these orcas. It
makes the viewers rethink everything Sea World says and lead them to think of them as liars.
Blackfish shows these appeals very well through the film by the footage they show and
music they use to set the mood for what theyre trying to show. The documentary itself helps to
appeal to all general audiences in wanting to get their word out to as many people as possible. It
communicates to its audiences by showing actual footage of whales in captivity and of their
attacks on trainers. The film makes good use of the whale footage and the statements given by
formal trainers. It has good correlation between what the trainers are saying and of showing the
footage to go along with their statements.
Overall Blackfish is a great depiction of what goes on behind the scenes of Sea World and
other marine parks. The films overall message is great stressed throughout; after seeing the film
viewers walk away with a different mindset of Sea World than they had before and even leave
with more information about orcas than they would from Sea World. As they should, because as
we see in Blackfish, even these killer whale trainers themselves knew very little of actual killer
whales and more about their training. What is now known after seeing Blackfish is the true

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priorities of Sea World and what they see as most important, and it has opened all our eyes to the
horrors humans can commit.

Work Cited

Blackfish. Dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Magnolia pictures. 2013. Film

Blackfish (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Blackfish." Rotten Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Seitz, Matt Z. "Blackfish Movie Review & Film Summary (2013).". N.p., July 20,
2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.