Michael Bigg

SeaWorld, a nautical-themed theme park located in five states across America, owns about half of the 56 orcas living in captivity. The orcas at SeaWorld are trained for entertainment and provide a fantasy-like experience for their visitors, but the terrible conditions at SeaWorld are no fantasy. Orcas are giant mammals that usually live in a vast ocean, but at SeaWorld they live in tanks and must perform for an audience everyday. SeaWorld claims that they use their orcas for important research…

The text and the lecture offer two opposing views on the possible causes of the ‘quacker sound’ which were heard by sailors in Russian submarines. While the text lists theories for those strange sound, the professor counters those specific points and explains that the theories might be accurate but there are certain problems with each of them and all the theories doubtable. First, the reading argues that the Orcas whales produce sound to attract a male is like this strange sound. On the other…

I watched the documentary Blackfish written by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Eli B. Despres for the second time last week. The documentary is about Tilikum, an orca that killed three people at SeaWorld. The directors wanted to build a case against using wild animals for commercial value and against keeping wild animals in captivity. The first time I watched the film was shortly after it came out in 2013. I was sitting in my family room with my two friends who had seen it before and had strong…

Captured Entertainment In a notorious documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, stories of remarkable yet highly viscous orca whales are recognized. In this film, Blackfish, former SeaWorld trainers and employees are interviewed in order to discover and expose the truth about the astounding conditions and treatment of these well cherished killer whales. While held in captivity, the orca whales exemplify horrific and shocking behavior, that would not otherwise exist in the wild. Blackfish…

The central theme of The Cove is of the injustice against dolphins, in the context of being held in captivity in marine theme parks all over the world, and also within the Town of Taiji, Japan where every year hundreds are captured or slaughtered. The backstory of the film comes from a man named Richard O'Barry, who was once the chief dolphin trainer for the seven dolphins used in the film Flipper. Once he noticed how depressed the captive dolphins he trained were after one “committed suicide”…

Dumbo Octopus The small octopus in Finding Nemo is a dumbo octopus which obtained its name from the famous Disney elephant Dumbo. Despite the fact that this octopus doesn’t live on a coral reef, but on the bottom of the ocean it also isn’t pink. They do in fact live all over the world including Australia. The dumbo octopus is not very well known, but it has amazing physical traits, behavior, and reproductive abilities. This particular octopus is much smaller compared to other species of octopi.…

Throughout the documentary Blackfish, which debuted in 2013, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite argues that SeaWorld keeping killer whales in captivity is not only inhumane and dangerous for the whales themselves, but also dangerous to humans that train them and interact with them on a daily basis. The documentary starts off with a very famous phone call to the Orange County sheriff saying that the Senior trainer for SeaWorld, Dawn Brancheau, had been eaten by a Killer Whale; her arm was completely…

While growing up in America, I have always been brought to zoos and aquariums. These animal holding locations give people an opportunity to see animals up close and personal. But to what expense on the animals does this bring? Blackfish is a documentary about Orca whales being held in captivity around the world and the effect it brings to the animals. This documentary provides the real information on how an animals can lose their natural abilities to live. In Blackfish, there is ethical dilemma…

SeaWorld of Hurt The growing argument over if killer whales should or should not be kept in captivity is becoming more widespread and well-known, simply because of attractions like SeaWorld and improving technology that extend further opportunities for research. The first article Why Killer Whales Shouldn’t Be Kept in Captivity by the SOS Dolphins organization, written August 7th, 2017, portrays an argument over the negative effects of using Orcas on display in captivity. The second article…

The power of emotion: compassion In Marina Keegan’s essay, Why We Care About Whales, Marina claims on how humans value the life of humans and the life of non-human animals. The essay starts with a social occurrence of emerging beached whales. A natural force that is created by the movement of both the moon and the Earth push whales to the beach. While giving a detailed, vivid explanation of how beached whales die, Marina maximizes the sadness and lamentation of whales’ deaths. Furthermore, she…