Students at Point Loma High School in San Diego made and starred in a PSA video asking the SeaWorld Corporation to free its captive marine mammals. The high school students in Mr. Palmitto's Cinematic Arts and Video Production classes decided to send the "Dear SeaWorld" video letter after watching the documentary "Blackfish" on CNN. "Blackfish" is a film that questions whether or not marine mammals like orcas, also known as killer whales, are suited for life in captivity. The film is a beautiful in-depth analysis of an industry that goes back decades and led to the deaths of four people by captive orcas.
The video by the Point Loma High School students begins with the teens thanking SeaWorld for the memories they had there as kids. The students then tell the marine park that those memories have become tainted after viewing the documentary "Blackfish." The documentary exposes a number of lies told by SeaWorld in an attempt to fool the public into believing that captive orcas are as loveable and cuddly as the stuffed Shamu dolls they take home after a show. In their video, the students ask SeaWorld a number of questions regarding the facts exposed in "Blackfish."
"Is it true the orcas in your exhibits were kidnapped from their families?" asks one student. "Is it true their lifespans are shortened in captivity?" questions another. "Is it true there have been numerous attacks on human trainers at your parks?" another student wants to know. The students then go on to ask why these things have happened and let SeaWorld know what they think should be done to and for the animals under their care. "We don't expect SeaWorld to close its doors," says one student.
"We just invite you to change your business model and stop using animals for entertainment," says another student. The 53-second video ends with the entire class standing together to let SeaWorld know they should "Free the dolphins, free the penguins, free the orcas...today." The director of the film "Blackfish," Gabriela Cowperthwaite has stated in several interviews that she does not want to see SeaWorld close. Like the Point Loma students, Cowperthwaite believes SeaWorld needs to focus more on their conservation efforts and less on animal shows that, as the film suggests are uneducational and full of misinformation.
"I set out to understand this incident, not as an animal activist -- because I'm not one -- but as a mother who had just taken her kids to SeaWorld, and of course as a documentary filmmaker who unfortunately can't let sleeping dogs lie," Cowperthwaite wrote in a CNN editorial. "I knew immediately that I wanted SeaWorld to have a voice in the film. We emailed back and forth for about six months. I gave them every chance to talk, but they eventually declined...I can't say this was an easy film to make."
"As I moved forward I knew that in telling this story in an honest and fact-driven way, I was telling the truth. It sounds cliché but it's really that simple. At some point you're simply compelled, in spite of yourself, to tell a story that needs to be told no matter how scared you are of an entity that could squash you," Cowperthwaite wrote in reference to her fear of SeaWorld's reaction to her film. "Blackfish" has turned out to be more than a documentary about a killer whale.
The film has opened people's eyes about the intelligence and beauty of an animal like the orca. "Blackfish" suggests that SeaWorld was an experiment in marine mammal captivity and now that we know the truth the experiment must come to an end. One of the former SeaWorld trainers interviewed in the film believes marine mammal parks will one day be a thing of the past in which people refer to it as a "barbaric time."
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