I don't watch a lot of documentaries, but it seems when I do, I always seem to pick one I like. Recently I watched
Blackfish, the story of
Tilikum, an orca captured off the cost of Iceland in 1983, who has
spent the past 30 years or so in captivity, performing most recently for SeaWorld. A major premise of the film is that
living in a tiny tank in stressful circumstances has transformed these whales into aggressive animals that are
dangerous to humans. I've seen a lot of people debating the accuracy of this. I don't care to speculate or discuss this
since this seems a far less important issue than the captivity of the animals in the first place. It seems pretty clear
from other sources that orca, like many of their sea-faring relatives, are very intelligent animals with strong
familial bonds. They appear to communicate via a sort of pseudo-language, and exhibit complex societal behaviors.
The real issue I take with SeaWorld is that they keep these animals captive and they keep in grossly inadequate
facilities. I've never been to SeaWorld, and after viewing this film I can assure you I never will. Its a really great
movie and I'd encourage you to check it out. It is on Netflix
(even on streaming), so should be easily obtainable.
movie review