- [Blair] Hello, everybody and
welcome back to the channel.
My name is Blair or the Illuminati.
And today I'm going to be
talking about SeaWorld.
They're not an MLM.
They're not selling products in the way
that many of the
companies I talk about do,
but they have definitely
got a very muddled history,
especially concerning animal treatment
and very specifically orca whales.
While I absolutely adore animals,
my own puppy, Casper is the sweetest,
little love of my life.
And I can't imagine for a
minute, mistreating him,
let alone standing by
and saying nothing when others would.
So with that being said,
let's dive right in today's video
and see what SeaWorld has to hide.
For those of you who are
not familiar with SeaWorld,
they are a chain of theme parks
that was originally founded in 1964
and based out of Florida.
The difference between them
and Canobie Lake Park or Six Flags
or your other standard
or regional theme parks,
is that there's sort of
a mishmash of aquariums
and theme parks put together.
They feature marine animals
like orca whales, sea lions, dolphins,
and are known for doing shows with them.
Four people founded SeaWorld
Milton C. Shedd, Ken Norris,
David DeMott and George Millay.
Funny enough SeaWorld was
actually meant to be a restaurant
with a marine show attached,
but as a cool idea
of these four frat brothers thought it was
turns out a marine show restaurant
wasn't all that feasible in the '60s.
So they made an aquarium
and SeaWorld began,
however, right from the very start
SeaWorld hasn't really been known
to take proper care of their animals.
And again, especially the orca
whales that made them famous.
They can say that they've
rescued over 36,000 wild animals
through their conservation fund,
but as great as that is,
if they're harming orca
whales in the process,
then what really is the
point in the first place
that's like saying you've rescued
thousands of puppies from the streets
while you're putting your own dog
into fighting rings.
Now, as we continue,
please know that some of the topics
we're going to be discussing
might be disturbing.
And if you can't or don't want to hear
about animal abuse and death,
I completely understand if
you're going to click away.
Although I'm going to
give the usual warnings,
this whole video is chock full of them.
So this is your heads up
now that this might be the one to skip
if you can't stomach this,
I'm sure many of you have
heard the name Shamu before
when it comes to SeaWorld, especially
it's a term that means "Friend of Namu"
the first ever orca whale to be displayed
and performed shows also in the '60s.
Namu unfortunately died after
just one year in captivity.
And you'd think that
this might deter SeaWorld
from doing the same thing again,
but obviously it didn't.
SeaWorld has made the word Shamu famous,
just like "Namu the Killer Whale" movie,
they've gone on to make many
"Shamu the Killer Whale" shows.
They've even trademarked
the name Shamu itself.
Now PETA paints a pretty disturbing
saying that whalers harpooned
and killed Shamu's mother in front of her.
And that's the so called origin story
of SeaWorld's first performing orca.
But of course we all know how I feel
about using PETA as a source.
They literally quote
themselves as a source
on the SeaWorldofHurt.com,
which is a website they own.
Bottom line of the article
has the little brought
to you by PETA sign.
And I just really don't
particularly trust us,
regardless if this has been dramatized
unsourced PETA story is true.
One thing is for certain
Shamu was a wild whale
taken in by SeaWorld.
Only six years after
capture Shamu passed away,
apparently from a uterine infection.
Now, the timeline is a little fuzzy
about whether or not this
happened in 1971 or in 1972,
Annette Ekis Goosey said
in a CNN transcript,
this was 1972,
but Shamu passed away in 1971.
So I'm not sure if this is
a different Shamu entirely
or CNN was a year off.
Either way there's video
footage of this on YouTube,
and it's extremely disturbing
and I'm not going to show it.
The first notable incident
at SeaWorld happened
when Annette was a secretary
there in the early '70s
and was asked to ride
Shamu for a publicity stunt
and let's make something
absolutely clear here.
She was a secretary, not a trainer,
not a marine biologist,
she was a secretary.
She was not qualified to do this.
She didn't ask to do this,
but SeaWorld for whatever reason,
decided they'd stick her on the whale,
film her riding it around
and use it to promote Shamu.
Now, obviously I'm mentioning this
because it didn't go well,
because if it did,
I wouldn't talk about it.
Here's how CNN describes the clip,
"She's completely at the mercy
"of the killer whale,
"Annette struggles for air,
"as she's pushed through the water.
"Another trainer brings in a rescue pole
"and Annette reaches for it.
"But before she's pulled to safety,
"the creature rams her again,
"ripping the pole from her hands.
"The whale bites down on her leg
"and won't let go.
"The trainers know if they pull too hard,
"her flesh will be shredded
by the animal's giant teeth.
"One of the trainers forces
"the whale to open its jaws
"and the injured woman
is pulled to safety."
Annette said she had 200 stitches
from the waist down
lacerations and punctures
from the incident.
And this was done all for promotion.
This, if anything,
in this one singular incident
should have been the wake
up call for SeaWorld.
Not only because Shamu
clearly was a killer whale,
but an animal that was
not suited for captivity
in the first place.
orca whales have a lifespan
that's equivalent to a humans,
or at least they should,
but from stress injuries,
disease and infections,
orcannnetwork.org says that in captivity,
that number is cut down
to 10 years or less.
By human standards orca
whales are still children
when they're dying in their tanks.
In 2011, it's estimated that
157 have died in captivity.
And this does not include
stillborns or miscarriages
not to mention they're
being bred at SeaWorld too,
and far younger than what
they would in the wild.
In natural orca communities
where mating is governed
by cultured traditions,
along with diet, language, et cetera.
The first calf is born
when the mother is about
14 to 15 years old,
at SeaWorld females are
often bred much earlier
at six or seven years old,
indicating either artificial inducement
by hormonal supplements
or the absence of cultural
restraints or both.
SeaWorld officials however,
have a history of arguing
with the facts
In the '80s, scientists came out saying
the lifespan of an orca in the wild
is between 30 to 100 years,
but SeaWorld of course,
had to dispute that.
And said that 30 years is
the top end of the scale.
And that predators don't
do well in the wild.
Okay, just think that one through
for like one minute, but okay sis.
Orca whales were doing just fine
until you took them from your home
and made them perform for fun and money.
The only reason the lion
population in Africa is decreasing
is because the human population is rising.
So don't sit there and tell me
that predators don't do well in the wild
when it's kind of the humans
that are fucking things up
for the animals,
not the environment itself.
Lanny Cornell, SeaWorld's Vice President
and Zoological Director
went on to say that the whales
were better off with them
because they were dying in the ocean.
One whale had an infected jaw
and the other a bullet wound
both were rescued by SeaWorld
only to die in captivity
in about five years.
And here's the thing,
if you see an animal hurt and injured
in need of medical attention,
of course you want to rescue it,
heal the bullet wound and
infected jaw, all you like
that is a fantastic and important service.
And I cannot and will not
criticize that aspect,
but then they put them in a prison,
a bathtub really,
and it suffers and dies there.
I mean, if I were that whale,
I would rather have a few years left
in total freedom and happiness
than suffering and dying in a cage.
That's my opinion, obviously.
But I think the way this
vice president speaks
as it's just like, as if he
deserves a pat on the back
for treating two whales
that died in five years
and that's just really not an achievement.
Before we get even deeper
into the treatment of
these whales however,
we have to talk about Tilikum.
He was captured in Iceland
and originally brought to Sealand.
Tilikum was an orca that was
later known to be disruptive
and potentially dangerous.
He was placed in a holding pool
to be separated
and his health deteriorated
after Sealand so much
that SeaWorld had to get a permit
to move him on a medical emergency basis.
And Tilikum did live up to
his dangerous reputation
and then some.
One man that worked with the whale
said that while he really
liked to work with Tilikum,
he had serious safety concerns
with the orca handling
that led him to quit his job.
He later wrote a letter
to the Federation of
Humane Societies in 1989,
but it wasn't until two
years later in 1991,
when his worst fear was
recognized and confirmed.
At the time the orca was
in Sealand of the Pacific,
a public aquarium in
British Columbia, Canada,
a young woman at Keltie Byrne
was a 20 year old marine biology student
and a part time trainer.
She was studying the orca whales,
misstepped and fell halfway into the pool.
Even though she was a competitive swimmer,
she didn't stand a chance
against the killer whales in the tank.
Steve Huxster, the Head
of Animal Care at the time
said, "they never had a
play thing in the pool
"that was so interactive.
"They just got incredibly
excited and stimulated."
And this excuse leaves such
a bad taste in my mouth
to call this biology student
who lost her life a play thing
comes across as so cold and so callous.
I understand that to the whales
that's what she may have been.
But if I were Huxster,
I would have said, "this
is a needless death.
"More precautions should have been taken,
"and I see now these whales
"are not suitable for our aquarium."
A woman has died,
but all he says is, "they,
we're just excited."
And to be clear, her death was gruesome.
When trainers issued recall commands
and threw food in the water,
the orcas ignored them twice
she surfaced and screamed,
but after 10 minutes,
and when she surfaced a third time,
she made no noise at all she had drowned.
Obviously and thankfully really
there is not footage of this,
but it reminds me of what
happened with Annette.
Seeing the video of
her being pushed around
bobbing in and out of the water.
I can only imagine how horrifying this is
and then to add two whales
and then to ultimately die from this
is just, it's hard to imagine.
Paul Sprong 41 Director of
OrcaLab in British Columbia,
which studies orcas in the wild
did part time research at
Sealand before Tilikum arrived.
He is not so befuddled.
"If you pen killer whales
in a small steel tank,
"you are imposing an extreme level
"of sensory deprivation on them," he says.
"Humans who are subjected
"to those same conditions
become mentally disturbed.
"Byrne's death led to a coroner's inquest,
"which recommended a series
"of safety improvements to
Sealand the park responded."
But according to Huxster,
"the wind came out of Wright's
sales for the business."
In the fall of 1991,
Sealand contacted SeaWorld
to ask if they would like to
buy Nootka, Haida, and Tilikum.
Sealand closed in 1992.
Even after that tragic incident,
SeaWorld did not wake up.
So what happened?
Well, the whales just
suddenly adapted in SeaWorld
and started behaving.
No, that's absolutely not what happened.
In 1999, a man was found
dead on the back of Tilikum
after hiding in the park at closing time,
this is what national
geographic had to say.
"Seaworld is a
multibillion-dollar enterprise
"entirely dependent on the
draw of its killer whales,
"orcas with reputations
"as playful and lovable, not murderous.
"I had little doubt
"the story had heavy spin.
"There is strong circumstantial evidence
"that Tilikum may have killed again.
"He was moved to SeaWorld Orlando,
"where a drunk climbed in
over the wall one night
"and was found drowned in the whales pool
"the next morning.
"The second case, the
1999 death of Daniel Dukes
"was more ambiguous
"because there were no witnesses.
"The facility had cameras
above and below the water,
"but SeaWorld claims
none captured the event.
"The SeaWorld theory was
drowning and hypothermia.
"More details have come out since.
"This was a case of hypothermia
"in which the deceased was
found the next morning,
"draped over the back of Tilikum
"with his genitals bitten off."
The New York times eventually
published an article
that did state according
to a medical examiner,
Mr. Duke suffered hypothermia and drowned.
But the lawsuit his parents filed
says that the puncture wounds
on Mr Duke's leg were consistent
with his having been pulled
into the pool by the whale.
Since SeaWorld's cameras
didn't capture the event,
I guess we can't know for sure
if he jumped or was pUlled,
the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed
by the Duke family later on,
though we can't be sure
if that's because they
settled out of court
or the Duke stopped pursuing the issue
either way Tilikum was
involved in yet another death.
This should have told SeaWorld once again,
that this whale was dangerous.
This should have been
a wake up call again,
as if the others were not
and another red flag.
But as we know, time and time again
with these multibillion
dollar corporations,
the greed outweighs the logic.
And I swear,
it seems like these CEOs
have absolutely no hindsight whatsoever.
The third death Tilikum was involved with
was the final straw and the most infamous.
And the one that led to the documentary,
We're going to talk
about called "Blackfish."
This was the death Dawn Brancheau
on February 24th, 2010.
Dawn was a 40 year old trainer at SeaWorld
and entertaining guests
in Orlando, Florida.
An article called "The
Killer in the Pool,"
describe the event in detail.
"The show ended around 1:30 PM.
"As the audience started to file out,
"Brancheau fed Tilikum some herring
"Tilikum floated inert in
the pool alongside her,
"his nose, almost touching her shoulder.
"Brancheau was smiling,
"her long pony tail
flaring out behind her.
"Jen Topoleski 32, a trainer
"who was acting as a safety
spotter for Brancheau
"told investigators that Tilikum took
"Brancheau's drifting hair into his mouth
"Brancheau tried to pull it free,
"but Tilikum yanked her
into the pool in an instant,
"a classic tableau of a trainer bonding
"with a marine animal became
a life threatening emergency."
Topoleski hit the pool's
siren staff race to the scene.
"It was scary,"
Dutch tourist Susanne De
Wit, 33 told investigators.
"He was a very wild."
"SeaWorld staff slapped the water surface
"signaling Tilikum to leave her
"the whale ignored the command
"trainers hurried to drop a
weighted net into the water
"to try and separate Tilikum from Bracheau
"or heard him through two adjoining pools
"and into a small medical pool
"that had a lifting floor.
"There he could be raised out
of the water and controlled.
"Eye witness accounts
"and the Sheriff's investigative report
"made it clear that Brancheau fought hard.
"She was a strong swimmer and
dedicated workout enthusiast
"who ran marathons,
"but she weighed just 123 pounds
"and was no match for a
12,000 pound killer whale.
"Tilikum refused to give her up.
"Trainers were forced to pry his jaws open
"when they pulled Brancheau free,
"part of her arm came off in his mouth."
"Tilikum who had been involved
"in two marine park deaths
in the past had killed her."
"Every safety protocol
that we had failed,"
SeaWorld director of animal training,
Kelly Flaherty Clark told me
a month after the incident,
her voice still tight with emotion.
"That's why we don't
have our friend anymore
"and that's why we are
taking a step back."
And that honestly was hard to read.
Every single protocol failed,
everything they were taught to do.
Every precaution failed
all because he grabbed her ponytail
and pulled her in.
And this was a woman
that had been working
with orcas for years,
but it didn't matter.
And that's because orca
whales are not safe.
They are gorgeous,
beautiful creatures, yes,
but they are obviously not
meant to be kept in captivity.
This isn't the only case
of whales attacking trainers either.
Even though Dawn was the
first trainer to die.
Another trainer, Peter was attacked
four years beforehand in 2006,
by one of the orcas,
he was held under water for over a minute
and managed to get away
with only a broken foot.
What did the head trainer say then?
It was just unfortunate.
- There are times like this
when they are killer whales
and she did choose to
demonstrate her feelings
in a way that obviously I was unfortunate
and we aren't fortunate
that our guests did have to see this.
And, we obviously do not want that.
- [Blair] They had so many
opportunities to change
and to rethink things
all the way back from the '70s
to the incident in 2010,
they could have stopped shows,
but because it brought in
money, SeaWorld kept it up.
One former trainer said
that in a 2006 report,
the only reason trainers
needed to get in the water
with these whales was for
entertainment purposes.
And look, I disagree
with keeping orca whales
in captivity in the first place,
but to have people getting
in the water with them
is asking for trouble.
These are giant predators,
and even their precautions
couldn't save Dawn's life.
In 2013, the backlash
against SeaWorld truly began.
It started first when a pilot whale,
a type of dolphin became
beached at one of its exhibits.
The entire scene was caught on camera
and the audience was outraged.
Not just because it happened,
but because it took nearly
20 minutes for the trainers
to return the pilot whale to the water.
And what did SeaWorld
have to say about that?
"The pilot whales come out
onto the ledge all the time.
"The animals seem to enjoy it
"and has no effect
"on their health or wellbeing."
So just remember they
live in water, not land,
they don't do this half and half shit.
So no SeaWorld.
It's not a good look to
just blame the whale, okay.
But let's take a look at
some of the science of it.
So do pilot whales beach themselves?
Yes, but it's not because they enjoy it.
The theory among researchers
is that sonar can screw up their steering
there's illnesses, disorientation,
or you know, maybe your
tanks aren't big enough.
I haven't seen a single theory online
that says whales, beach
themselves for funsies.
That's like saying,
I might just keep my head
under water for 20 minutes
because lol that's such an
entertaining thing to do,
but this is just the tip
of the iceberg for 2013.
Around that same time,
the documentary "Blackfish" was released.
An entire documentary devoted
to how orca whales
have been mistreated, especially Tilikum.
Despite Tilikum being a large focus,
a lot of other problems came to light
because of this documentary.
Many former SeaWorld trainers spoke out
in this documentary
coming forward with their stories
about animal treatment
and their experience.
And what do many of them have
to say at the very beginning,
- It really is more about your personality
and how good you can swim.
- [Blair] The only two requirements
were how well can you
swim and your personality?
And why is that?
Because trainers aren't scientists,
they aren't specialists marine biologists.
Some of them might be,
but it's not a requirement.
They're entertainers.
And I mean, hey, I guess to some degree,
it makes sense
that way you don't really have
to pay the employees as much
for getting that degree.
One guy said he had never
even put on a wetsuit before
he put it on backwards on his first day.
That's not me trying to insult him
for not knowing or anything,
but it tells me that SeaWorld
was not hiring professionals.
The documentary goes on to show
an old interview with Dawn,
the woman who was killed by Tilikum,
she was by all accounts,
a model trainer.
What happened to her,
the former trainer say could
have happened to any trainer.
And again, Tilikum showed no mercy.
This wasn't a playful creature
because again, that's not what they are.
As SeaWorld paramedic told
the Orange County detective Revere
that she was scalped and he
Tilikum swallowed her arm.
Tilikum didn't play with her.
So let's just get that
straight, he ate her.
The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration or OSHA
case against SeaWorld
was mentioned after that.
"SeaWorld recognize the inherent risk
"of allowing trainers
"to interact with potentially
dangerous animals,"
said Cindy Coe OSHA's
Regional Administrator
in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Nonetheless, it required its employees
"to work within the pool walls
"on ledges and on shelves,
"where they were subject
"to dangerous behavior by the animals.
"A serious citation is being issued
"for exposing employees to a fall hazard
"by failing to install a
stairway railing system
"on the front side,
"left bridge of the belief
stage in Shamu stadium,
"OSHA issues a serious citation
"when death or serious physical harm
"is likely to result from a hazard
"about which the employer knew
"or should have known."
Fines came to light in later years,
but we'll get on to sea
world's future in a minute.
What's shown next in the documentary
is the way the orca whales are captured
and I'll acknowledge it now.
SeaWorld isn't capturing
orcas from the wild anymore.
However, seeing as Tilikum
was taken from the wild,
I do believe this is
still worth mentioning.
The boats sent to catch these whales
corral the orca whales.
So they're trapped in one area.
They take the smallest ones
because of shipping costs,
but then when they lower the corral,
the other whales have the option to leave.
And this broke my heart
because they don't leave at all.
The other mothers and babies stay
because of the community bond.
The whole family is there communicating
with the young whales.
One man says he even started crying
as he realized what he was doing.
It's like kidnapping a little kid
from its mother.
When the whole hunt was over,
he says there were three
dead whales in the net.
They cut the whales open,
filled them with rocks
and sank them.
When this came to light,
these fishermen hunters, kidnappers,
whatever name he feels appropriate,
we're told not to come
back to Washington state
to find orcas.
- They were finally ejected
from the state of Washington
by a court order in 1976,
it was SeaWorld by name that was told,
do not come back to
Washington to capture whales.
Without missing a beat
they went from Washington to Iceland
and began capturing there.
- [Blair] And in 1983, at two years old,
that's exactly where Tilikum was found.
There's more detail in the documentary
about how Tilikum was treated
when he and another whale were trained.
They both were deprived
of food or punished
if they didn't perform
the tricks properly.
The other whale would be angry at Tilikum
if he didn't do well
since they were both
getting punished for it.
So he would drag his teeth across him.
They call it raking in the documentary
and the scaring looked pretty severe.
So seriously with Tilikum's
horrific origin story here,
is it really any wonder
that he completely lost his shit
and killed someone?
After that the documentary continued
to detail the life of Tilikum
as we've already gone over,
but something in
particular did catch my ear
- And to this day
there is no record of
an orca doing any harm
to any human in the wild.
- [Blair] There is no record anywhere
of a killer whale doing any
harm to anyone in the wild.
And it's true.
I seriously took a look
and just let that sink in for a moment.
This is one of the oceans,
greatest predators,
and yet they will not go
after humans in the wild.
They're pretty friendly
in the wild good natured.
And there's some adorable clips online
and in the documentary of orcas
making these adorable chirping noises
and allowing strangers to pet them.
Yet they are far more
dangerous and volatile
as we've seen in captivity.
I love animals and this
is breaking my heart
to know that humans and SeaWorld
can turn these loving, sweet creatures
into traumatized, poor animals
just lashing out
because they don't know what
to do with their life anymore.
Howard Garrett and the Orca Researchers
say how intelligent they are.
They use languages,
have immense communities
and there's proof that
they have emotional lives.
When pilot whales are beached,
as we mentioned earlier,
it's often in groups
because they stay by one another
Howard for all his research
says whenever he studies orcas,
he never gets out of the boat
because he knows better.
- I've spent a lot of
time around killer whales
and they're always in charge.
I never get out of the boat.
I never mess with them.
The speed and the power is quite amazing.
Rules are the same as pool hall,
one foot on the floor at all times.
- [Blair] So let's get back
to Tilikum in the documentary.
Apparently since the orca whale community
is more matriarchal, as they say,
male whales often keep to
the perimeter of the group.
But because Tilikum was
in a small pool, really,
and with other female whales,
they would beat him up
trying to get him to move
to the edge of a perimeter
he just didn't have.
As a result,
he was kept in isolation
for his own protection,
most of the time
and with the females just
for breeding purposes.
So let's just reiterate
what happened here,
Tilikum was captured at two years old
in a traumatic way
and stripped from his entire community.
Then he was raked by another
whale at Sealand training
because he was learning
and making mistakes.
Then at SeaWorld,
the females he was with would beat him up
or he was kept in isolation.
So again, I asked a
pretty obvious question.
Is it really any wonder
that he killed someone?
Sure, he's adorable in the videos shown
and may not have seemed scary,
but as sweet as he acted,
I'm not surprised he snapped.
But what's messed up
is that the trainers
were not told of his past
or why to exercise caution.
A trainer that filmed the show,
caught on camera one occasion
where Tilikum looked like he
was lunging towards someone.
And then he was told to
erase the footage completely.
Even though we may like to think
that these bonds are based
on more than just trainers
giving them food,
it doesn't seem to be true.
There's more stories,
more tragedies as the
documentary continues.
Baby Shamu, SeaWorld's first baby whale
was removed from her mother
when she was only four to five years old
because she was challenging
her mom at shows.
The mother truly grieved,
screaming and crying
when a former trainer said,
she'd never seen her do that before.
A senior researcher
that analyzed the vocals
said "they were long range vocals.
"The mother was trying to use her voice,
"this technique to find her baby."
Vocals they never heard before.
"The sound is extremely heartbreaking
"and I was genuinely moved by them."
Like almost brought to tears
by the sound of this mother,
just crying for her baby
to try and find her child
and SeaWorld did this so the
shows could make more money.
They spread lies saying that in the wild
orcas live to about 25 to 35 years old
or even longer in the facilities
because of vet care.
In the wild, they live less,
the SeaWorld employees say.
25% of dorsal fins have
a curve, they'd say.
Curved dorsal fins
are because of the collagen breaking down.
When whales are exposed to warm air,
their dorsal fins will collapse.
Biologists have studied
that after only a month in captivity,
a group of studied whales
had collapsed dorsal fins.
"Once they returned to the wild,
"they reverted to normal."
SeaWorld says it's because
they're in the same family,
so they have the same traits
but they're not.
They've got killer whales from
all over the world together.
They've got whales that don't
speak the same language,
that are from different cultures,
that haven't grown up together,
all thrown in a small tank together.
So there's aggression that
doesn't exist in the wild,
whale on whale fighting.
"And it's just part of
your daily existence,"
a former trainer said.
In captivity, they can't get away.
They can't leave another one alone.
Whales have killed each other,
trying to assert dominance.
And again, this hyper
aggression, these behaviors,
they simply aren't what we
see in the wild with orcas.
This documentary is absolutely chock full
of examples like this.
Videos that show a whale
jumping onto the trainer,
where SeaWorld says it's a training error,
a woman putting her foot by an orca,
seemingly trying to
desensitize the orca to it,
to build a bond.
And then the young woman
being pulled into the water.
One of the trainers managed
to get the orca to let her go
because they opened the gate
signaling that another whale,
one that was more dominant
in the facility was coming in
and the list goes on.
70 plus killer whale training accidents
and one former trainer
says she was informed about none of them.
There's footage of people
being slammed, being pulled,
whether in front of an audience or not
even outside of SeaWorld
at Loro Park in Spain,
a trainer passed away.
The whales that were
being trained in Spain
were of course, whales from SeaWorld.
They sent four orcas to Loro Park
and the best trainer was torn to shreds.
Dave, an OSHA Expert Witness
said those were SeaWorld's whales
trained using SeaWorld's techniques.
And their training was
being supervised at the time
by a senior trainer from San Diego.
But Kelly Clark, the SeaWorld
Head Trainer said in court,
she didn't know that they were affiliated
in any way with SeaWorld.
Sure, you didn't,
it's just such a fucking lie.
Like how do you not know
that four whales trained by SeaWorld
and sent off to Spain were yours,
how do you not know that?
Were you stupid?
Are you just trying to
like cover up in court?
Like what's the deal here?
But do you wanna know what
the most fucked up part
about all of that is,
is the entire thing
of like the entire video,
"Blackfish" sheds a light on
why Dawn was killed by Tilikum.
And it's not exactly what we thought.
I went through media sources from that day
and found the whole,
oh, he snapped
and grabbed her ponytail
story multiple times.
And hey, it makes sense
why Tilikum lost it
after all that we've said and found.
But that's the story
that's been fed to us.
And it's not even true.
Tilikum made a small
mistake in his performance.
One former trainer says he believes
that the orca didn't hear the whistle
when he was swimming around the pool
to put a fin up.
So Tilikum wanting food at
the end of his performance,
kept swimming around the performance area
with a fin in the air
Dawn, because he didn't
technically stop in time
gave him a neutral response.
In other words, she
waited to give him food
and the food that he got
well, not so great.
She was towards the
end of a bucket of fish
they were getting smaller
and Tilikum was acting frustrated,
not listening as much,
not performing as well.
Former trainers have said this,
analyzing the video.
Then at the end, it was relaxing,
bonding time as the performance finished,
he took out his frustration on her
and rolled over her.
This wasn't him snapping,
losing his temper all at once.
This was a, I can't take
it any more buildup moment.
These whales were underfed.
He was getting small fish towards the end,
possibly annoyed by a neutral response.
And this was after
years of this treatment.
So it's not exactly as random
as SeaWorld made it sound.
Thad Lacinak SeaWorld's
Executive went on air
and said, "if Dawn were here,
"she'd be saying it was her fault
"he grabbed her ponytail."
He blamed her for having her
hair up in a fucking ponytail.
When the fact is that
these orcas were starving,
agitated, performing, and on edge.
This was a no way, the trainer's fault.
There's other photos
of trainers with ponytails first of all,
and how dare this executive blame
their recently deceased
worker for their own death.
When they were the ones
who put her in a tank with killer whales,
her family is undoubtedly
grieving devastated.
And this guy is putting words
into a dead woman's mouth.
I really can't put it much better
than one father and former trainer did
when he said,
- I'm not at all interested
in having my daughter
who is three and a half
grow up thinking that it's normalized
to have these intelligent,
highly evolved animals in concrete pools.
I don't want her to think
that's how we treat the kin
that we find ourselves
around on this planet.
I think it's atrocious
- [Blair] Tilikum, if you were wondering,
was kept in near isolation
for the next seven years
after that incident
until passing away in 2017.
SeaWorld has called the
documentary "Blackfish" misleading
and agenda driven,
but there's no doubt it's had an impact
on how people see them.
It's been nominated for
BAFTA Best Documentary
picked up by CNN
and supposedly even changed
how the movie "Finding Dory"
depicted it's aquarium.
Stocks and attendance at SeaWorld dropped,
and they had to pay $5 million
in fraud charges in 2018
for minimizing the effect
of the documentary.
They misled investors about
the impact denied its validity.
But sure, this footage,
this a video evidence,
and an undeniable proof
spoken from the mouths
of your former trainers
is all just misleading.
OSHA required that SeaWorld's
trainers stand behind
a barrier during shows after this
but ultimately the fallout
has been tremendous.
In 2016 then SeaWorld's CEO, Joel Manby
went on TV with the Humane
Society of the United States
to announce the massive decision.
"As society's understanding
of orcas continues to change
"Seaworld is changing with it.
"By making this the last
generation of orcas in our care.
"And re-imagining how
guests will encounter
"these beautiful animals,
"we are fulfilling our
mission of providing visitors
"to our parks with
experiences that matter."
Manby said via a prepared statement
released the day of the announcement.
The shows have been phased out as well.
And as soon as last year,
the entertainment shows
in Florida and Texas
have come to a close.
The shows are ending
and SeaWorld won't have any new orcas.
Society's understanding of orcas
isn't really what changed
their mind, in my opinion,
I'm betting it's the fact
that they don't want
another "Blackfish" fallout
or another trainer's death on their hands.
Not because of the responsibility,
but only because of the backlash.
So I understand I'm probably a little late
to the party on this one,
because SeaWorld is seeming
to change their ways,
but even so,
as long as there are
orcas in their exhibits,
I won't be supporting them
simply for the fact
that it's like keeping them in a bathtub.
They're meant to be in
the ocean, aquariums, zoos
they all have the potential
to be nurturing environments,
but some don't take that responsibility.
I've heard of some animal
exhibits around the world
that take in wild animals
that truly can't survive
in the wild anymore,
whether that's because of an injury
or that they were born there, et cetera.
But learn about whales on
a whale watch, all right.
Orcas are not meant for captivity.
It's not in their nature.
And how would you like to
be trapped in one small room
with strangers you don't know
and performing tricks
if you want your food.
If the conditions you hear
about in a zoo, aquarium or theme park
aren't conditions you wouldn't want
to put your beloved pet in,
then maybe they shouldn't be conditions
that any other animals forced into either.
SeaWorld, it's great
that there won't be any
more orcas there one day,
but it's too little too late
given how they've treated their trainers
and their animals for 60 years
and the danger that they
put people in, the abuse
I just don't ever see the moment
where they're gonna have my support
or where I'll ever visit them.
With that being said,
that's where I'm going
to end today's video.
So thank you guys so much for watching.
I love you guys
and I'll see you in the next one, bye.
(upbeat music)
