Recently, I watched a documentary called, “Blackfish” on Netflix. It is called Blackfish because the people of the First Nations called orcas that. They believed orcas are spiritual creatures. Orcas are such beautiful and majestic animals! It is such a shame that we human beings take them away from their families and keep them in tiny concrete pools for our own entertainment.
This documentary is about the orca named Tilikum. He was taken away from his mother when he was just 2 years old. He was sent to SeaWorld, forced to learn tricks to entertain crowds. When he failed to learn a trick, he would be refused food, and his partners would also be denied food. They would get frustrated with him, ganged up on him and raked him. For animals this size, these orcas were locked up in a pool of 20 feet wide and 30 feet deep at night. What an inhuman thing to do!
The theme park brought in different orcas from various waterparks to try to simulate the community living of whales but these whales came from different backgrounds. They had different culture subsets, different genes, different languages. Hyper-aggressions often happened. It was reported that there were more orcas dying in captivity due to aggressions than in the wild.
After watching this documentary, I feel strongly that orcas belong to the ocean. They shouldn’t be kept in tanks as a means for profits or entertainment. Taking them away from their natural habitats and families damage them psychologically and emotionally. It also put the animal trainers at risks. This documentary is a must watch, especially if you love wild animals. It will further provoke what we should do to keep wild animals safe. God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, has given human being dominion over all creatures, and this is not an excuse to exploit them for our own gain.
