Blackfish......

It would seem I'm always angry or frustrated about something; trying to change the world every day, one campaign at a time. I sign online petitions, I donate money to worthy causes, I sponsor a little boy in Africa, I recycle, I try and limit my use of plastics, I shall certainly never take part in any balloon releases, and so on. I try and share my passion for these campaigns with others, but at the same time I try not to bore people with my opinions. If just one of my friends or family adds their name or their cash I would feel thrilled, but it has to be the individual's choice.
Last night I sat down and watched "Blackfish". I do not usually choose or dictate what is watched in our house; Perfect Husband is almost always the Master of the Remote Control and I am perfectly fine with this (unless he tries to make me watch "Battleship" again....) but last night I was resolute. Perfect Husband sat down and played with his phone for a while; I could tell that he wasn't really wanting to watch this documentary about captive Orcas. Perfect Husband was most likely thinking "why are we watching this? Why don't we just go to SeaWorld and see the real thing? What moral outrage is my wife going on about this time?" Indeed he had mentioned going to SeaWorld one day, telling me how amazing it is, and how he had enjoyed visiting. I had flatly refused; I do not believe in animals performing for humans as a form of entertainment. I have no problem eating animals, indeed most of them taste delicious, and we humans are omnivores; I just don't believe in exploitation of any kind.
Anyway, "Blackfish" focuses mainly on Tilikum, a 32 year old male Orca who was captured off the coast of Iceland when he was just approx. 3 years of age. Over the last 3 decades he has been in several facilities where he has been made to live with other Orcas which bullied him, his sperm has been used for breeding over 20 offspring, and he has been made to perform to thousands of people, raising a huge amount of money for his "owners." However, during that time he has been bullied by his fellow Orcas; in the wild Orcas live in close family groups and the male babies stay with their mothers for life. In captivity you cannot simply put 3 random, traumatised Orcas together and expect them to get along. Tilikum has also performed breathtaking routines, but the reality is that these Orcas have food withheld as part of their training, leaving them very little alternative but to perform, plus the fact that they get very little stimulation at any other time. When they are not performing they are kept in tanks that are far too small, with nothing to do. Is it any wonder then, that having been torn away from his mother, put in with strangers, bullied, exploited and traumatised, and in no way leading anything that bears any resemblance to the life he should have led as a free Orca, does it come as a surprise to any that Tilikum has killed 3 people in the last 22 years? You may not be aware, as these shocking tragedies have been subjected to every kind of cover up possible. To me, you only have to look at Tilikum, and others that share his fate, to see how wrong this is, to subject these amazing, intelligent miracles of nature to this sad and pathetic life. If this was a human child, kidnapped, bullied, exploited for money, there would be a huge outcry. Take a look at this photo. The dorsal fin is "flopped over" isn't it? This is extremely rare in the wild, usually caused by captivity, stress, swimming in circles due to being kept in tanks that are too small, too much time spent at the surface (performing) so that the fin has no water support etc. To me, this poor, sad, collapsed fin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with keeping something captive.
"Blackfish" is an intelligent, informed documentary. After is was over, Perfect Husband turned to me and said "this is so wrong; these animals need to be free. I am never going to go to SeaWorld again."
And this is how the world will change. One enlightened individual at a time.