Tilikum's Behavior In Blackfish

Blackfish is a film about the life of Tilikum, an orca captured at 2 years old and raised in captivity. While Tilikum lived in Seaworld he showed signs of frustration, and aggression leading to the deaths of three people. It appears his behavior stemmed from his experiences. For instance, at Sealand of the Pacific Tilikum and an older more experienced whale was placed in the same tank as Tilikum so that Tilikum would learn the tricks. However, if Tilikum messed up both whales would be punished. This caused the older whale to become frustrated with Tilikum, and he retaliated by raking him with his teeth. Also, Tilikum was placed in the tank with female orcas and they also raked him. In the evenings the orcas were locked up in a small area for the night, and eventually they were only fed once they were locked up. This caused Tilikum to get frustrated and become aggressive which was shown in the first attack when Tilikum killed Keltie Byrne. This event caused Sealand to close down and sell Tilikum to Seaworld. The condition was that Tilikum would be used for breeding purposes only. …show more content…
Eventually he was allowed to perform in shows. During a show at Seaworld, Tilikum seems to lunge at a trainer. In that moment Tilikum shows an act of aggression or playfulness. As his life in captivity goes on he gets more frustrated and agitated leading up to two other deaths. We don't know what the orcas are thinking or feeling we can only interpret what we see with our thoughts and opinions. It seemed obvious that keeping orcas in captivity led to behavioral issues. Many of the male dorsal fins were flopped over instead of straight, indicating that they were in distress. Female orcas were separated from their young orca calves causing the moms to get