Black Fish - Sea World Ethics Case
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The documentary Blackfish focuses on the killer whale Tilikum who was involved in three human deaths while held in captivity at SeaWorld. It explores the controversy over keeping killer whales in captivity and their shortened lifespans. SeaWorld opened in 1964 and drew many visitors but is now facing issues regarding the honesty of their practices, employee safety, and animal treatment and welfare. Stakeholders impacted include animals, employees, owners, customers and various community groups. SeaWorld's response involves branding, education and partnerships to address the financial and organizational changes needed.
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Black Fish - Sea World Ethics Case
- 1. Matt Brehm Taylor Geyer Gabe Flores Brandon Hassen Michele Harman
- 2. About the documentary: • Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. • Premiered at 2013 Sundance Film Festival • Focuses on the story of Tilikum, an Orca held by SeaWorld • Controversy over the captivity of killer whales • Covers Tilikum and his involvement of in the deaths of three individuals and the consequences of holding killer whales in captivity.
- 3. About SeaWorld: • Opened in 1964, • Originally planned as a restaurant • Drew in more than 400k visitors in the first year. Locations: • Orlando, Florida • San Antonio, Texas • San Diego, CA Attractions: • Water park thrills. • nature and animals • Unique up-close encounters with animals • Mix of educational and innovative entertainment
- 4. • Dishonesty •Employee Safety • Animal Treatment
- 6. • Safety Training & Procedures • Issues with Training • Citations issued by OSHA 1991 Keltie Byrne 2010 Dawn Brancheau https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?
- 7. • Shortened lifespan in captivity • Breeding aggressive genes • Confining animals to small spaces • Food deprivation for training • Putting Tilikum in with aggressive orcas • Segregating the animals, causing psychological and emotional stress
- 8. Dishonesty Training Animal Treatment Social Cultural Economic Legal Moral
- 9. Animals, Employees, Owners Shareholders, Managers, Lawyers Customers, Suppliers Local Community Government Regulators, Media, Activist Groups
- 10. • Branding • Education • Partnerships
- 11. • Financial Implications • Organizational Changes • Consequences of implementing recommendations
Editor's Notes
- Blackfish: The documentary focuses on the captivity of Tilikum, nicknamed Tilly, a killer whale that was involved in the deaths of three individuals, and the consequences of keeping killer whales in captivity. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and produced by Manny Oteyza, the documentary focuses on Tilikum’s captured in 1983 off the coast of Iceland. In the Summer of 2010, Dawn Brancheau, a renowned SeaWorld trainer, was killed by Tilikum, a 12,000-pound Orca. Cowperthwaite, Gabriela. "Synopsis." Blackfish Official Film Site. Ed. Manny Oteyza. Dogwoof, 24 February 2010. Web. 20 May 2014. Gabe’s Slide
- History: SeaWorld opened for the first time in 1964, and was founded by George Millay, Milt Sheed, Ken Norris, and David DeMott. They had originally planned it as an underwater restaurant, but their concept eventually grew into a marine zoological park on 21 acres along the shore of Mission Bay, San Diego, California. The party initially invested $1.5 million dollars into SeaWorld, which included 45 employees, dolphins, sea lions, and two salt water aquariums. In SeaWorld’s first year, they drew more than 400,000 visitors. Locations: Orlando, FL; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA Attractions: Water park thrills, nature and animals for a unique up-close animal encounter with a mix of educational attractions and innovative entertainment surrounded by mother nature. "History." Where Imagination Meets Nature. 2014 SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Web. 20 May 2014. Brandon’s Slide
- Gabe’s Slides
- Matt/Brandon Slide
- Taylor’s Slide Safety Training and Procedures: Employees are first taught how to move about the stadium Behavior of whales, how to handle feeding buckets before being allowed to come within 10 feet of the pool 18 months to 2 years before an associate trainer is promoted to trainer and is allowed within 5 feet of the whale Senior trainers are the only ones allowed to have tactile interaction with whales SeaWorld places the burden on the trainers to anticipate inappropriate responses from the whales that would indicate abnormal behavior or a potentially dangerous reactions from the whales Issues with Training: When Tilikum attacked Dawn Brancheau no employee reported seeing any of the behaviors that the trainers are taught to recognize potentially aggressive behavior. A representative of SeaWorld argues that the show where Brancheau was attacked was technically over when the attack happened and Brancheau was engaging in relationship building with Tilikum since the guests had already been thanked for coming. The court determined otherwise. SeaWorld failed to document several known events of undesirable behavior by killer whales when working with trainers: After appeals and counteragurments, it has been upheld that trainers are no longer allowed in the water with whales. Quote from SeaWorld Training Documents: Work required of crew members of the Animal Training team is potentially dangerous. The animals we interact with are not domesticated; most are large and powerful. While the potential for serious physical injuries exists, if trainers maintain top physical condition, and adhere to safety and departmental procedures, the potential for injury is dramatically reduced Members are given what is called the “Tili Talk” explaining the history of Tilikum and his level of danger and failure to sometimes adhere with training and commands Tilikum was approximately eleven years old when he arrived at SeaWorld and, as Ms. Flaherty Clark stated, “he had never had successful water interactions with human beings” (Tr. 59). She testified, “[W]ith Tilikum, there was no question due to his size and his history that we weren’t going to be doing waterwork with him” (Tr. 160). Citations issues by OSHA: After the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, OSHA compliance officer Lara Padgett issued 3 citations to Seaworld on August 23, 2010. Failing to equip two stairways with standard stair railings on each side of the stairways. ($5,000 fine) SeaWorld denies violation Ultimately was found responsible and had to pay The argument behind this on behalf of OSHA was that since no guardrails were in place at certain parts of the performance area, it is a major violation since a fall could result in death either by impact or falling in with the whales alleges two instances of a willful violation of the general duty clause for exposing animal trainers to struck-by and drowning hazards when working with killer whales during performances ($70,000 fine) SeaWorld argues that the Secretary failed to establish the conditions at Orlando’s Shamu Stadium created a recognized hazard to the trainers working with the killer whales during performances. They say it was not willful. SeaWorld found partially responsible, had to pay $7,000 failing to enclose outdoor electrical receptacles Citation withdrawn at hearing http://www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/30-years-three-deaths-tilikums-tragic-story/
- Killer whales can become hyper-aggressive when confied in captivity. Former Sealand trainers interviewed in “Blackfish” say the park’s female killer whales would aggressively gang up on Tilikum, particularly when they were confined in a 20-foot-by- 30-foot pool overnight. In February 1991, Tilikum and two other orcas attacked part-time trainer, Keltie Byrne, after she slipped into their pool. It is argued in the Blackfish documentary that killer whales are not aggressive in the wild and implies that confiement can lead to dangerous behavior toward both humans and fellow marine mammals. Although SeaWorld maintains that there is not truth behind, quoted as saying, “these animals adapt very well to socially to their lives at SeaWorld”, the park later acknowledged ocras at SeaWorld and elsewhere live in a dominance hierarchy but said aggression of any kind is rare. SeaWorld has made Tilikum its top breeder, and now more than half of the whales in SeaWorld’s collection share Tilikum’s aggressive genes. Behavioral scientists who study humans and animals often emphasize the influence of both genetic and environmental factors. However, studies have focused on a gene linked to aggressive behavior in humans, for example, most research has at least acknowledge the role of outside triggers. Tilikum has fathered 10 of the 29 killer whales at its three parks – 34% of SeaWorld’s current killer whales share his genes – the park says none of these orcas has aggressive tendencies. Another point to make here is that SeaWorld whales die much earlier than wild orcas. Female killer whales in the wild can live up to 100 years and their male counterparts 50 to 60 years, but SeaWorld’s orcas only live 25 to 30 years In the documentary, it is believed that these lives are cut short due to the whales being in captivity. However, one point to make here is that biologists have limited data available to them, and believe the data can be misleading to compare life expectations between whales in the wild and those in captivity. Jason Garcia, a Sentinel reporter, spoke to a group of these scientist and they believe, instead of using limited data, to compare “annual survival rate” as a comparison. With that comparison, captive whales die at nearly three times the rate of wild orcas each year. Whales are typically captured at a young age. For example, Keiko, the star of Free Willy, was captured at a young age and later introduced into his natural habitate. The belief was that if we could identify and find his natal pod, we could release him and he would be accepted back into the wild in the company of other orcas. That never happened. After years of training, at great expense, Keiko was finally able to catch and eat live fish and was returned to the waters in Iceland near where he was captured. However, he never integrated with the wild whales he encountered. He often swam back to the boat for protection and waited at the gate of his enclosure to be let back in. Keiko finally left his constant human caregivers and swam over 1,000 miles, feeding himself, from Iceland to Norway, where he entered a fjord and stayed, dependent again on human attention, until his death by a pneumonia-like disease. Gabe’s Slide
- Taylor’s Slide Employees: - obviously a huge one, not only are they being put in danger, but people who came into the job like Dawn Brancheau came to SeaWorld to learn about animals and do what they thought was helping the animals and educate the public. But their lives were put in danger, and many of them were not aware of the facts behind the situation. If the company’s sales do ever begin to reduce or SeaWorld refuses to restructure their organization these employees now have something awful tied to their reputation, or potential job loss. Customers: Many people have taken their families to SeaWorld, unbeknownst to them the real cruelties that were happening, now with this information brought to light, many people feel betrayed and lied to, as well as a sense of guilt for once being a patron of this establishment. They have been misinformed about many aspects of SeaWorld as a company and the truths behind the lifestyles and expectancy of killer whales. Many people do believe it is normal for an Orca to only live to 25 because of the information they have been fed by places like SeaWorld. Because of their dishonesty to their employees, it becomes a cycle where people continue to be customers of SeaWorld, an so contribute to the cycle of their abuse on animals and employee safety. Many people still haven’t seen Blackfish and aren’t very aware of what has happened because of the extensive amount of cover up done by SeaWorld. Shareholders: Although as of the last financial report that was released one would expect the shareholders to be happy, there are still some that have discovered what SeaWorld is guilty of and wish not to have their name and money tied to. Additionally, SeaWorld is attempting to block the rights of Shareholders to vote on proposals since their IPO only was opened in April 2013 invoking the rule from the SEC that shareholders who have held stake less than a year can have their votes rescinded by the organization of interest. (Reuters). Animals/Environment: Suppliers: Including those individuals that were bringing the intial Orcas to SeaWorld, they still to this day feel awful for what they’ve done, not realizing the gravity of the situation at hand at first such as John Crowe who was involved in the brutal capturing of the Orcas in the 1970s and is interviewed in the film. This also unfortunately, but realistically includes those companies the supply medicine, food, and daily operating supplies for SeaWorld, including Anheuser Busch. Activist Groups: Many activist groups including PETA, as well as others who are not so extreme, including the ACLU have been rallying for years for a change in the way Seaworld operates, and Blackfish has given them a more public support system for demanding a change. Media: Huge amounts of news coverage, online, television, print, etc. This can mean a greater following for certain news sources if youre one of many who continue to follow the information on this story and SeaWorld. Government regulators: In addition to OSHA having their hands full with investigations and hearings, other groups like the SEC with the issue with the shareholders and federal legislative groups being rallied by supporters and activist groups working to enact new rules in regards to animals in entertainment parks and employee working conditions in these places.