“If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don’t you think you would get a little irritated, aggravated, maybe even a little psychotic?”, states Jane Velez-Mitchell, a CNN anchor. Saying this after discussing the documentary Blackfish, and its main character Tilikum, Jane describes how Tilikum has become psychologically unstable, resulting from and to tragic events. Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is a film that goes into depth on the lives of captive orcas, specifically Tilikum. The film also addresses the problems with the sea-park industry, how much humans have to learn about these animals, and the relationship between humans and nature. This film explores the following: how does captivity of orca whales affect their psychological
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Orca families differ from one another with each family being very close. An orca’s sense of self is distributed among the individuals in their group; without their family, they lack that social aspect of their lives and the bonding they have towards each other, causing them to be violent towards one another in captivity. Lori Marino, a neuroscientist, talks about how orcas have a part of the brain that humans do not have--how these animals are so much more social than human beings. An orca’s life revolves around the bonds and socialness they have with their family. She explains, “Dolphins and whales have a sense of self, they have a sense of social bonding--it’s much stronger and more complex than humans…everything about them is social--everything”. When these animals are separated from their families, they have no idea what to do--they become stressed and have anxiety because in the wild, orcas never leave their mother’s side. These mammals have their sense of self distributed to the others in their family, and when that is taken away from them, they do not know what to do—one could say that parts of them are lost. An orca researcher named Howard Garrett says, “Each community has different set of behaviors...each has a complete repertoire of vocalizations”. With this, it proves
Orca families differ from one another with each family being very close. An orca’s sense of self is distributed among the individuals in their group; without their family, they lack that social aspect of their lives and the bonding they have towards each other, causing them to be violent towards one another in captivity. Lori Marino, a neuroscientist, talks about how orcas have a part of the brain that humans do not have--how these animals are so much more social than human beings. An orca’s life revolves around the bonds and socialness they have with their family. She explains, “Dolphins and whales have a sense of self, they have a sense of social bonding--it’s much stronger and more complex than humans…everything about them is social--everything”. When these animals are separated from their families, they have no idea what to do--they become stressed and have anxiety because in the wild, orcas never leave their mother’s side. These mammals have their sense of self distributed to the others in their family, and when that is taken away from them, they do not know what to do—one could say that parts of them are lost. An orca researcher named Howard Garrett says, “Each community has different set of behaviors...each has a complete repertoire of vocalizations”. With this, it proves