''Blackfish'' is a 2013 American
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
directed by
Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Gabriela Cowperthwaite (born 1971) is an American/Brazilian filmmaker. She has directed documentaries and feature films, and she also produces, edits, writes, and directs for television and documentary films. Her films often deal with social, cultu ...
. It concerns
Tilikum, an
orca
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...
held by
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...
and the controversy over
captive orcas
A number of orcas, also called killer whales, are held in captivity by humans for breeding or performance purposes. The practice of capturing and displaying orcas in exhibitions began in the 1960s, and they soon became popular attractions at pub ...
. The film premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment.
Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...
and
CNN Films
CNN Films is a motion picture division of CNN under Warner Bros. Pictures. originally launched in 2012. Its first film, ''Girl Rising'' premiered in spring 2013 in the United States.
History
On October 8, 2012, CNN announced the creation of CNN ...
for wider release. It was nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Best Documentary
This page lists the winners for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, formerly known as the Robert Flaherty Documentary Award, for each year.
History
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts an ...
.
Synopsis
![Dawn Brancheau - Riders on the Storm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Dawn_Brancheau_-_Riders_on_the_Storm.jpg)
The documentary concerns the captivity of Tilikum, an orca involved in the deaths of three people, and the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity. The coverage of Tilikum includes his capture in 1983 off the coast of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and his purported harassment by fellow captive orcas at
Sealand of the Pacific. Cowperthwaite argues these incidents contributed to the
orca's aggression.
The film includes a
testimonial from Lori Marino, director of science with the
Nonhuman Rights Project
The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is an American nonprofit animal rights organization seeking to change the legal status of at least some nonhuman animals from that of property to that of persons, with a goal of securing rights to bodily libert ...
. Cowperthwaite also focuses on SeaWorld's claims that lifespans of orcas in captivity are comparable to those in the wild,
typically 30 years for males and 50 years for females,
a claim the film argues is false.
Other people interviewed include former SeaWorld trainers, such as
John Hargrove, who describe their experiences with Tilikum and
other captive orcas.
The documentary argues that the wild-caught orcas experienced extreme stress when captured as juveniles, and spending a lifetime in aquariums being forced to perform and breed lead to aggression toward other orcas and humans. The film features footage of attacks on trainers by Tilikum and other captive orcas as well as interviews with witnesses.
Development
Cowperthwaite began work on the film after the February 2010 death of Tilikum's trainer
Dawn Brancheau
Dawn Therese Brancheau ( LoVerde, April 16, 1969 – February 24, 2010) was an American senior animal trainer at SeaWorld. She worked with orcas at SeaWorld Orlando for fifteen years, including a leading role in revamping the '' Shamu'' sho ...
and in response to the claim that the orca had targeted Brancheau because she had worn her hair in a ponytail.
Cowperthwaite argued that this claim had been conjecture and that "there had to be more to this story".
The film premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013, and was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films for wider release.
Release
''Blackfish'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2013. Shortly after,
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment.
Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...
and
CNN Films
CNN Films is a motion picture division of CNN under Warner Bros. Pictures. originally launched in 2012. Its first film, ''Girl Rising'' premiered in spring 2013 in the United States.
History
On October 8, 2012, CNN announced the creation of CNN ...
acquired US distribution rights to the film, releasing the film on July 19, 2013, with
Dogwoof Pictures
Dogwoof is a film-distribution company based in the United Kingdom.
History Dogwoof Pictures
Dogwoof was founded in 2003 by Andy Whittaker, and originally concentrated on foreign films, including such titles as ''Don't Move'', '' Fateless'', ...
acquiring international rights. Dogwoof sold the film to multiple buyers for international territories, including
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
for the UK, Scandinavia and Latin America (the latter two would later go to Universal) and
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
for Asia, Africa, Portugal, Italy and several other territories. However, in 2021, for unexplained reasons, Netflix removed ''Blackfish'' from their platform.
Reception
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, a
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
, the film has a score of 98% based on 132 reviews with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critical consensus states, "''Blackfish'' is an aggressive, impassioned documentary that will change the way you look at performance killer whales."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a weighted average score to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 83 out of 100 based on 33 critics indicating "universal acclaim." The ''
Deseret News'' called it "a gripping example of documentary filmmaking at its finest".
Box office
In release for 14 weeks, the film earned $2,073,582 at the North American domestic box office.
Response from trainers
After the film's release, former SeaWorld trainer Bridgette Pirtle said the final film was "a complete '180' from what was originally presented to me."
In earlier statements, Pirtle praised the film's direction and supported its message.
Mark Simmons, one of Tilikum's first trainers, believed few of his interview comments were used "because the things I said flew in the face of the movie's clear agenda. What I contributed did not support Gabriela or Tim Zimmerman's intent with the film."
Michael Scarpuzzi, the vice president for zoological operations and trainer for
SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
SeaWorld San Diego ...
, says the film uses Brancheau's death and gruesome details to "not inform the public, but, rather regrettably, because of the desire to sensationalize." He states, "We have altered how we care for, display and train these extraordinary animals. We have changed the facilities, equipment and procedures at our killer whale habitats. The care and educational presentation of these animals at SeaWorld has been made safer than ever. Does ''Blackfish'' inform its viewers of that fact? No, it does not."
In January 2014, the family of the late trainer Dawn Brancheau said neither they nor the foundation named after her were affiliated with the film, and that they did not believe it accurately reflected Brancheau or her experiences.
Response from SeaWorld
SeaWorld Entertainment
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is an American theme park and entertainment company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and owns and operates thirteen recreational destinations in the Unit ...
refused to take part in the production of ''Blackfish'', and later claimed the film was inaccurate,
saying in a statement:
SeaWorld also responded with an open letter rebutting the claims.
The
Oceanic Preservation Society
The Oceanic Preservation Society is a California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes marine conservation and environmental protection by combating complex global issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, illegal wildlife t ...
and The Orca Project, a non-profit organization focusing on orca in captivity, responded with open letters criticizing SeaWorld's claims.
Marine researcher Debbie Giles also offered rebuttals to SeaWorld, finding its assertions inaccurate.
SeaWorld considers the film to be
propaganda.
On December 31, 2013, the ''
Orlando Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' posted a poll asking if ''Blackfish'' had changed readers' opinions on SeaWorld. The majority of votes stated that the film had not. It was later found that 180 out of 328 votes (55%) originated from a single SeaWorld-hosted IP address. SeaWorld defended the voting, stating that "each of the votes that came from a SeaWorld domain were cast by team members who are passionate about the incredible work SeaWorld does and the experiences our parks provide."
SeaWorld also created a section of its website titled "Truth About Blackfish," addressing the claims stated above and highlighting what it considered other problems with the film.
This section of the website is no longer active.
On February 27, 2014, SeaWorld filed a complaint with the
U.S. Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the United States federal executive departments, executive departments of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of fede ...
, claiming that Lara Padgett, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
investigator, had behaved unethically by aiding the filmmakers. Cowperthwaite denied claims of improper collaboration.
Starting in the summer of 2014, SeaWorld, as Eric Davis, created a number of
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
websites such as Awesome Ocean, Stand With Sea World, and I Love SeaWorld, in an effort to share their view, counter what they believed were inaccuracies happening in the public debate, and
repair their brand.
Impact
SeaWorld
SeaWorld announced afterward it had suffered a $15.9 million loss, which CEO Jim Atchison attributed in part to high ticket prices and poor weather.
Overall attendance at SeaWorld parks and Busch Gardens declined by 5% in the first nine months of 2013, though it was unclear if the drop in attendance was due to the influence of the film.
SeaWorld claimed attendance figures for its three marine parks — Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio — in the last three months of 2013 were at record levels for that quarter.
In response to the film,
New York State Senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan compo ...
Greg Ball proposed legislation in New York that bans keeping orcas in captivity.
In March 2014,
California State Assemblyman Richard Bloom introduced the
Orca Welfare and Safety Act, a bill in California that would ban entertainment-driven orca captivity and retire all current whales.
In June 2014,
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Congressmen
Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
and
Jared Huffman
Jared William Huffman (born February 18, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 2nd congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
From 2006 to 2012, Huffman w ...
attached an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Act, requiring the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
to update regulations under the
Animal Welfare Act of 1966
The Animal Welfare Act (Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, ) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 24, 1966. It is the main federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research and exhibi ...
in regards to cetacean captivity. It passed with "unanimous bipartisan support." The bill allocates 1 million USD to studying the impacts of captivity on marine mammals. Schiff cited ''Blackfish'' as raising public concern.
After the release of ''Blackfish'',
Southwest Airlines came under pressure to end its 26-year relationship with SeaWorld.
Southwest responded that it was aware of concerns and was "engaged" with SeaWorld over them, but that the partnership would continue. In July 2014, it was announced that the partnership would not be renewed. A press release stated that the break was mutual and based on "shifting priorities".
The petitioning by activists was cited as a possible factor for the split.
In August 2014, SeaWorld announced that attendance and revenue were down about 1% to 2% for the second quarter of 2014 compared with the second quarter of 2013. Additionally, SeaWorld stock prices dropped by 33%. The company attributed the decline to the proposed government legislation related to the documentary. In November 2014, SeaWorld announced that attendance at the parks had dropped 5.2% from the previous year and profits had fallen 28% over that quarter. As of November 2014, the company's stock was down 50% from the previous year.
In September 2014, the Rosen Law Firm PA announced an investigation into "potential securities claim" on behalf of SeaWorld investors.
According to the firm, SeaWorld "acknowledged for the first time the negative publicity may have had a hit and may have been why the attendance has been flat for now and the past quarters." The firm will investigate if SeaWorld was aware of the impact and "chose to downplay that as a reason for its performance results." In September 2014, the Rosen Law Firm filed a
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit. It alleges that SeaWorld "misled investors by claiming the decrease in attendance at its parks was caused by Easter holiday and other factors" rather than the release of ''Blackfish'' and improper practices.
[ (archive requires scrolldown)]
SeaWorld said in August 2014 that the film had hurt revenues at its park in San Diego.
On December 11, 2014, SeaWorld announced that chief executive
Jim Atchison
Jim Atchison is an American business executive. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, positions he had held since 2009. would resign, with an interim successor replacing him on January 15, 2015. The company's share price had fallen 44% in 2014.
In August 2015, SeaWorld announced a 3% drop in revenue and an 84% drop in net income for the second quarter of 2015 when compared to the previous year. Attendance fell 1.6%, from 6.58 million to 6.48 million.
In November 2015, SeaWorld announced plans to end killer-whale shows at its theme park in San Diego. In March 2016, SeaWorld announced it would end its orca breeding program and begin to phase out all live performances using orcas.
In a statement regarding the decision, the company said, “Society is changing and we’re changing with it."
In 2018, SeaWorld and former CEO James Atchison agreed to pay over $5 million to settle federal charges that the company hid from investors the negative impact that ''Blackfish'' had on the business. As part of the indictment, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Atchison sold Seaworld stock in the first quarter of 2014 in order to hide the loss in revenue.
Other media
Reaction to the documentary prompted the bands and singers
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
,
Barenaked Ladies,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...
,
Martina McBride
Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material.
McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and reloc ...
,
.38 Special
The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & ...
,
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen ...
,
REO Speedwagon,
Pat Benatar
Patricia Mae Giraldo ('' née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum al ...
,
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
,
Trace Adkins
Trace may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995
* ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993
* Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band
* ''The Trace'' (album)
Other uses in arts and entertainment
* ''Trace' ...
, and
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...
to cancel their concerts at the "Bands, Brew & BBQ" event at
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park, in Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Or ...
and
Busch Gardens Tampa
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa and Asia. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park opened on J ...
in 2014.
The ending to the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
film ''
Finding Dory
''Finding Dory'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, produced by Lindsey Collins and written by Stanton and Vict ...
'' was revised after director
Andrew Stanton
Andrew Ayers Stanton (born December 3, 1965) is an American filmmaker and voice actor based at Pixar, which he joined in 1990. His film work includes co-writing and co-directing Pixar's ''A Bug's Life'' (1998), directing '' Finding Nemo'' (2003) ...
and then-chief creative officer
John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...
saw ''Blackfish'' and spoke with director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The depiction of a marine park in the film was altered.
The film ''
Paper Towns
''Paper Towns'' is a novel written by John Green, primarily for an audience of young adults, and was published on October 16, 2008, by Dutton Books. The novel is about the coming-of-age of the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search fo ...
'', based on the book by
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...
, had scenes featuring SeaWorld cut. Producer Wyck Godfrey explained, "Since
ohn Ohn is a Burmese name, used by people from Myanmar. Notable people with the name include:
* Daw Ohn (1913–2003), Burmese professor in Pali
* Ohn Gyaw (born 1932), Burmese Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1998
* Ohn Kyaing (born 1944), Bur ...
wrote the book, the documentary
'Blackfish''came out. I think it's a little less playful to go to SeaWorld now."
Director
Colin Trevorrow
Colin Trevorrow (;) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction comedy '' Safety Not Guaranteed'' (2012) to critical and commercial success. Trevorrow achieved mainstream recognition for his work on th ...
admitted that the
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
themes in the 2015 film ''
Jurassic World'' were inspired by ''Blackfish'', with elements of the hybrid dinosaur ''Indominus rex'' and the fictional theme park in the film inspired by Tilikum and SeaWorld, respectively.
Soundtrack
Composer
Jeff Beal
Jeff Beal (born June 20, 1963) is an American composer of music for film, television, recordings, and the concert hall. Highly regarded as a jazz instrumentalist and versatile composer, Beal creates music that often incorporates a synthesis of im ...
composed the original score, recording a small orchestra at his house in Agoura Hills. While no physical CDs were produced, the score is available for download on iTunes. In July 2016, the
Hollywood Chamber Orchestra premiered the concert version of the score, live-to-picture, at the Montalban Theater, conducted by Beal.
Home media
''Blackfish'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on August 26, 2013 in the
UK (Region 2, PAL). Its U.S. release was on November 12, 2013.
The documentary was broadcast on CNN on October 24, 2013.
After the broadcast, CNN aired an
Anderson Cooper special with
Jack Hanna
Jack Bushnell Hanna (born January 2, 1947) is a retired American zookeeper and a former director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "Jungle Jack" was director of the zoo from 1978 to 1992, and is viewed as largely responsible for elevat ...
, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Naomi Rose and Jack Hurley. This was followed by a special edition of ''
Crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
S ...
'' with ''Blackfish'' associate producer Tim Zimmermann debating
Grey Stafford
Dr. Grey Stafford is an animal trainer, zoologist, educator, and currently the Director of Conservation at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also a spokesperson for the zoo and aquarium industry and has been featur ...
, a conservationist, zoologist, and member of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association.
The documentary aired on
BBC Four in the UK on November 21, 2013 as part of the ''
Storyville'' documentary series.
See also
*
Animal attacks
Animal attacks are violent attacks caused by non-human animals against humans, one of the most common being bites. These attacks are a cause of human injuries and fatalities worldwide. According to the ''2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics S ...
*
Killer whale attacks on humans
Orcas (or killer whales) are large, powerful apex predators. In the wild, there have been no reliably verified fatal attacks on humans. In captivity, there have been several non-fatal and four fatal attacks on humans since the 1970s. Experts are ...
*
Incidents at SeaWorld parks
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment-owned amusement parks, water parks or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that ...
*
Non-human animal personhood
*
Nonhuman Rights Project
The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is an American nonprofit animal rights organization seeking to change the legal status of at least some nonhuman animals from that of property to that of persons, with a goal of securing rights to bodily libert ...
*
''The Whale'' (2011 film)
*
''Orca'' (film)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackfish
2013 films
2013 documentary films
CNN Films films
Documentary films about animal rights
Documentary films about environmental issues
Documentary films about ocean life
Documentary films about water and the environment
Films about dolphins
Films about whales
Films directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Films scored by Jeff Beal
Films set in amusement parks
*Blackfish
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
2010s English-language films
2010s American films