It seems like every time that we have any sort of controversial issue, thousands of people jump onto the bandwagon and cry for action. Then after a couple of days, the problem dies down and is easily forgotten about. When Blackfish came out, it seemed like Seaworld would not be able to come back from the backlash.When I was younger, I was not allowed to go to Seaworld. I had always wondered why we could not go and see the killer whales that everyone had talked about, but now I know why it was a problem. So many people stopped going to the marine park, and it seemed like it would make difference, but now people are going back again.. Earlier this year, Seaworld promised that they would make plans to build larger tanks. This makes things a little better, but it does not solve the problems that the film brought up. Yet people are going back to the parks as if the whole solution has been solved. It looks like people did not really understand what the documentary was trying to show  or that they do not even care about the issue at all.

According to the LA Times, after their announcement to build larger orca tanks, the attendance at Seaworld increased 5.6% in the first three months of this year after falling 4.2% in 2014 (Martin par 9). Yes, Blackfish did mention the problem of the orcas being confined in tiny headquarters, but that is all the action that Seaworld seems to be taking. This does not help the orcas from being attacked by the other frustrated orcas, keep them with their own families, or give them the chance to live as nature intended them to. Many of the issues that were presented in the film will still continue to be problems. Years will go by and, the whales will still continue to be exploited for our pleasure and entertainment. If this were to happen to humans, there would be a huge outrage and the situation would be considered inhumane, but nobody ever seems to think about it that way when it comes to other animals. Humans tend to think that they are so much better than other creatures, but in reality, we are all animals that live, breathe, and feel. Whales are our fellow creatures, and we should at least respect them as so.

Seaworld’s response to Blackfish shows that they just want to cover up the situations that were caught on tape. They claimed that “no one was allowed to swim in the water with Tilikum, and Ms.Brancheau never did so”, but the people that witnessed her attack had the footage and could tell that Mrs.Brancheau was already in the water (Seaworld par 8). Not only was the footage an issue, but through the film, I had realized that we never question all of the “facts” that marine parks have given us. It seems like Seaworld continuously lies to their patrons, so why do we trust them so easily? We just assume that they have no reason to not tell us the truth because they do not seem like they are bad people. Giving money to their corporation only empowers them to keep going with keeping orcas captive. It is up to the people outside of Seaworld to fix the situation rather than leave it in the hands of marine parks.

We can fix the issue of orca captivity by not giving money to Seaworld. If we continue to give money to this corporation then we give them permission to treat animals as they do. People have to decide if they really care about the issue at hand, or if they are willing to keep the captive orcas in the same position that they have been stuck in for the past 20 years. If we want the change to happen then we must actually take action.

Works Cited
Martin, Hugo. “Seaworld may be bouncing back from ‘Blackfish’           backlash”. LA Times. 6 June 2015. Web. 24 September               2015.

Seaworld. “The Truth about Blackfish”. Seaworldcares.com. NPD.         Web. 24 September 2015.