Blackfish: The Truth

Whale-come to this highly anticipated episode! I have been asked so many times to review this documentary and I finally sat down and did it. 

Watch the new episode of the Marine Biology Movie Club with @taylork.sea here! We reviewed the film and talked about our past with SeaWorld. Watch that video here! 

Corrections & Sources:

“Swallowed the arm” claim - Tilikum did not eat or swallow Dawn Brancheau’s arm. As seen on the coroner report, her left upper arm is completely avulsed

Keltie Bern official coroners inquest showing that all three killer whales were found responsible. 

The women in the film claim that the whale with a flopped fin was the one who killed Keltie or instigated and the film presents this in a way that it was only Tilikum when in fact all the orcas at SeaLand had flopped fins.

Tilikum’s profile showing that he finds prolong access to other whales aversive and found repetition during learning with repetitive incorrect responses aversive. 

Daniel Duke incident occurred on July 9, 1999 and Tuar was born 6/22/1999

From Dawn's family, "First and foremost, we are not affiliated with this movie in any way. We did not assist with its creation and were unaware of its content until the film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. The Dawn Brancheau Foundation as well as our family members have never and will never accept any compensation from its productio" 

Wild orca harming a human in 1972, biting a surfer in Point Sur. The injury he sustained was just as graphic with three teeth penetrating bone: narrowly missing a major artery with surgical precision. It required 100 stitches to fix. Although Hans Kretschmer holds the title as the only human being to be seriously injured by a wild orca, there have been five other incidents between humans and wild orcas. In the early 1910s, a pod of Antarctic type B killer whales, otherwise known as pack ice orcas, attempted to tip an ice floe on which a Terra Nova Expedition photographer and a sledge dog team were standing. In August 2005, 12-year-old Ellis Miller was swimming in 4ft deep water in Helm Bay, near Ketchikan, Alaska, when he was nudged by a 25ft transient killer whale. Here is video of orcas "attacking" boats as well

Life span study mentioned

Average captive lifespan source summary

Separation and increased aggression 

Behind the scenes of Believe video! 

Sea otter kicking incident

Books:

Spirits of the Coast, Puget Sound Whales for Sale, Beneath the Surface