News from the Natural World: Man has decided to stop going to SeaWorld after watching Blackfish and has renewed his membership at London Zoo.
Willy Free from London, England, had been traveling to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, every year. He had always been a huge fan of Orcas. After first visiting Sea World in the year 2,000 he realized his dream and saw these majestic animals up close. He watched on as they cavorted and performed tricks for the crowd. Willy presumed the Whales were happy. But that all changed when he watched Blackfish.
In 2013, Blackfish shattered the illusion around SeaWorld. It shared, in brutal and haunting detail, the horrific practices involved in exhibiting Killer Whales to the public. The Orca are brutally hunted from boats and the calves are separated from their mothers. They are then abused and traumatized through ritualistic training, isolation, and exploitation. They regularly develop mental health problems as well as trauma. Despite exhibiting no sign of aggression towards humans in the wild, they have attacked and killed their handlers. Blackfish exposed this hypocrisy to the wider world. Following the release of the documentary SeaWorld faced an unprecedented global boycott.
Blackfish exposes hypocrisy of zoos
When he watched Blackfish he was left in abject horror and shock. But he has vowed never to return to SeaWorld. He couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to realize the horror. It was clear that animals who travel 100’s of miles probably shouldn’t be kept in small tanks for human amusement. London, born and raised, Willy decided instead to renew his membership to ZSL London Zoo.
“I couldn’t take seeing the images of the Orca’s trapped, alone and isolated. Instead, I’ll be heading to London Zoo to look at the Tigers pacing up and down.“
Willy will now spend his holidays observing the animals at London Zoo. London Zoo has many animals including Lions, Tigers and Red Pandas.
“It’s nice to know that animals at London Zoo didn’t go through the same process as those in Blackfish. They weren’t taken and captured from the wild. Finally, they definitely weren’t transported, isolated and kept in tiny cages for human amusement…”