Blackfish

"A mesmerizing psychological thriller with a killer whale at its centre, Blackfish is the first film since Grizzly Man to show how nature can get revenge on man when pushed to its limits."

Blackfish opened my eyes to the inhumanities and atrocities of something I'd enjoyed my whole life; Sea World. When I was very young, my mother and father took me to Sea World to see Tilikum, the resident orca known for being a bright and happy whale with the cute floppy fin. Seeing him is one of my earliest memories; being blown away by the size and magic of such a whale was an experience that really can't be recreated. It sparked a lot of passion in me, and since then I've been infatuated with the sea, taking on surfing and scuba diving as I grew older. Blackfish raised the veil of magic I had enjoyed, and exposed the ugly truth behind whale entertainment and SeaWorld's concern for animal welfare.The film, directed and produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, focused on the life of Tilikum. The film begins with the capturing of baby Tilikum from the shores of Washington state. Taken from his pod as a baby, Tilikum lived his entire life as a 'show whale', first in a local aquarium and then SeaWorld, Florida. Interviews with trainers, managers and admirers of the whale slowly expose Tilikum's fall from grace, as one deadly incident after another become more and more of a problem for SeaWorld and it's image. As Tilikum transforms from a gebtle baby orca to a frustrated bull whale, SeaWorld kept the killings quiet, blaming trainers for the accidents, not the whale. SeaWorld shamelessly defended itself against the accusations the whale shows were unsafe to keep profits high. Blachfish exposed the scandal behind the whale attacks, and SeaWorld's concern for profit over the lives of trainers.The film was thought-provoking and eye opening. For a documentary style film it was longer, but kept interesting with varied topics and interviews. I recommend this to anyone with a passion for animal welfare or a love of the seas.