1) SeaWorld's treatment of killer whales has caused psychological trauma and physical harm to the whales held in captivity. Tilikum, a male killer whale captured in Iceland, was involved in the deaths of three trainers at Sealand and SeaWorld due to the stress of captivity. 2) Numerous injuries to whales held at SeaWorld and accidents involving trainers demonstrate that killer whales do not belong in captivity and perform out of stress instead of enjoyment. 3) The documentary Blackfish provides evidence that SeaWorld has tried to cover up accidents and downplay the risks to trainers, neglecting the psychological needs of whales that has led to dangerous situations.

1. Aimee DeFrancesco
Com 201-03
Persuasive Speech Text

2. Bringing an End to SeaWorld
When you think of SeaWorld many things probably come to mind. Maybe you think of
swimming with dolphins, maybe it brings back childhood memories, maybe you think of a place
where you see amazing animals perform jaw dropping stunts. Maybe it’s a place you dreamed of
one day bringing your future family. Unfortunately, under SeaWorld’s cheery façade, this is
sadly not the reality. As the famous documentary and New York Time’s critic’s pick,
“Blackfish”, so profoundly and deeply explains, SeaWorld is a place of mistreatment, neglect,
and exploitation.
It all started with the capturing of orcas in the 1970s. And some time later in 1983 a male
killer whale was captured in the North Atlantic. They called him Tilikum. He was 2 years old
and 11.5 feet long. Tilikum was taken to a place called “Sealand” in Victoria, Canada. The
Sealand orca enclosure was basically a net in a marina. The whales’ sleeping enclosure was 20ft
by 30ft for all 3 whales that they had. There were many things wrong with Sealand, some more
apparent than others. Sealand trainers used punishment in their training techniques, which
resulted in the whales physically harming each other in frustration. One ex-trainer argued that
confinement and a poor environment lead to psychosis. All of this added up on February 20th,
1991, when the worst thing imaginable happened. As told by witnesses in the “Blackfish”
documentary, one of the trainers, Kelty Burn, was killed by Tilikum. Kelty’s story was kept very
hushed, and in the papers they listed her cause of death as merely “drowning”. This was just the
beginning of the mistreatment of the whales, as well as the devastating effects of these
aggravated animals.
After the tragedy at Sealand involving Tilikum, Sealand no longer wanted to keep him.
SeaWorld was more than happy to take the male killer whale off their hands, and in 1992,

3. Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld. Right off the bat, Tilikum was once again bullied by the other
whales that already resided there. Physical injuries and a collapsed or “droopy” dorsal fin were
apparent on poor Tilikum. A droopy dorsal fin is something that is very common among killer
whales in captivity, however it only effects less than 1% of killer whales in the wild.
Tilikum’s attack on Kelty back at Sealand was his first attack, but definitely not his last.
His next frustration induced outburst was when he lunged at SeaWorld trainer, Liz. This was
caught on camera by an employee videotaping some of the whales in action, but he was
instructed to destroy the tape. The cameraman’s conscious told him this was wrong, but he
complied out of fear for his job. Numerous former SeaWorld trainers and employees, many of
which spoke about it in the documentary, disagree with the ways of SeaWorld. One of the
trainers recalls one of the lines she had to say in one of the performances…”Namu isn’t doing
this because she has to, she’s doing this because she really wants to”. Just shortly after starting
her job at SeaWorld, she knew this was a lie. The whales don’t want to perform these “tricks”.
And they are not meant to live out their lives in a glorified swimming pool.
On November 23rd, 1987, another accident took place in SeaWorld. A trainer named John
was crushed between 2 whales during a performance that went wrong. SeaWorld tried to blame it
on the trainer, but in reality this was not the case. Another accident occurred when trainer
Tamary was pulled in by her foot. She escaped with an arm compound fracture. Trainer Ken
Peters faced similar damages, but to his feet. He was dragged underwater repeatedly by one of
the whales, until he was finally able to escape.
The most notorious SeaWorld incident of all was the death of Dawn Branchaeu. Many of
us probably know the story as the trainer who got dragged under by her ponytail. This led some
to believe that maybe it was just Dawn’s fault. That maybe she should not have had her hair

4. dangling in a long ponytail, but rather up in a bun. SeaWorld management very much
downplayed the accident and made it try to seem like Dawn was at fault. This was not the case.
Dawn was not even initially grabbed by her ponytail, the whale had initially grabbed her by the
forearm. And from there on, she was mutilated to say the least.
As clearly displayed and analyzed in the Blackfish documentary, whales in captivity are
psychologically traumatized. They are ticking time bombs. These whales are not killing
maliciously, but killing out of frustration and aggravation that is a result of their mistreatment,
deprivation of environment stimulation, and inhumane confinement. I am not asking you take up
a picket sign and prance around the entrance of SeaWorld, but merely to come to terms with the
facts, open your eyes to the harsh realities of SeaWorld, and never set foot into a place that
causes so much distress and pain, to animals and humans alike. Thank you.