ENG 105 Blackfish Sample Essay 1 PDF

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Winchester 1 Sam Winchester Ms. Roberts English 105 September 11, 2016

Blackfish:The Darkside of Seaworld

When you think of Seaworld you think of a nice, wonderful place where you can sit back and relax while watching trainers and orcas perform unreal tricks. What if I told you, looks are deceiving? In reality, Seaworld is a place where the animals are suffering and it is causing harm, even death to the trainers. Blackfish is a documentary by Gabriella Cowperthwaite where she exposes how having orcas whales in captivity are dangerous for the animals and trainers. In the film, Cowperthwaite uses strong examples of logos, pathos, and ethos to help effectively display the harm done to orcas in captivity. While in captivity, Tilikum wasn’t adjusting well. The other orcas would constantly bully him. For example, they would rake their teeth against his skin leaving scars and causing him to bleed. It had gotten so bad that he had to be separated from the other whales in his own confinement. As time went on, he had started behaving aggressively out of frustration. He has caused the deaths of three trainers, yet he is still being held at Seaworld and was forced to perform in shows. Cowperthwaite used many examples of logos, for example, the film was brimming with information from start to finish. The main argument in the film, is the negative physical effects of captivity on the Orca whales. Orca’s dorsal fins in the wild are usually standing tall and straight on the middle of their back. There was a clip of Tilikum swimming and his dorsal fin was

Winchester 2 collapsed. This only happens in 1% of orcas in the wild. The dorsal fin collapsing indicates that the animal is stressed out or not getting enough activity. In the wild, orcas can swim freely over large distances which is good for the dorsal fin but, in captivity they are limited to where they can swim which can cause it to collapse. Another example of logos she uses is how easy it was to become a trainer. She interviewed various trainers and each explained that the requirements to become a trainer were that you had to know how to swim and hold your breath for a long time. “I always thought you needed like a master’s degree in biology to be a trainer” .This was probably one of the most unprofessional things that Seaworld has done. They put workers with little experience in a tank with aggravated orcas and expected everything to turn out fine. These same orcas have harmed trainers in the past and even taken the lives of some. Cowperthwaite displayed the carelessness of Seaworld and how they knew that the orcas were already dangerous. But anything for money right? Another example of logos is a clip where a Seaworld worker was explaining the lifespan of orcas. “An orca usually lives for about 25 to 35 years.” The next clip showed an interview with Howard Garret, of the Orca Network, who explained that that information was false. “The females can live to about a hundred maybe more. Males to about 50 or 60”.This helps prove Cowperthwaite’s argument that orcas are being mistreated in captivity. They lose up to about 60 years of their life being held in captivity. Cowperthwaite did an excellent job of portraying pathos throughout the whole film. There was emotion from start to finish. Some of the Seaworld trainers were tearing up in the interviews just talking about their relationship with the orcas. One of the powerful examples portrayed in the film was when they had taken a young orca from her mother. She was taken and

Winchester 3 transferred to a new resort. This scene was so touching because the mother orca was wailing and crying out for hours. Having your child taken away can be heartbreaking for humans, imagine an animal. This was also an example of how captivity has detrimental effects on the animals’ lives. Ethos played a key role in the film. Cowperthwaite used examples of ethos by showing old Seaworld commercials. Each commercial was convincing people to come to Seaworld for the orca show. Despite all of the tragedies that is happening there, they still manage to make it seem like everything is fine. Cowperthwaite uses this because it shows how Seaworld was in it for the money. With all of the tragedies occurring, they still kept the show going. Another example of ethos is how the other Seaworld trainers described Dawn, who was one of the trainers killed by Tilikum. Each person that was interviewed descried Dawn as a wonderful and amazing person. As described by fellow Seaworld trainer Berg “She’s beautiful. She’s blonde…. You know, everybody loves Dawn”. Dawn was said to be one of the best Seaworld trainers that was there. Her personality and hard work had helped her develop into the trainer she had become. Jeffery Ventre praised Dawn as “one of the Seaworld’s best trainers.” Cowperthwaite uses this in the film to show how no matter how skilled or careful the trainers are, they are still prone to being attacked by the orcas. Seaworld may seem like a place that is filled with happiness and joy, but it really has a dark side that Cowperthwaite tries to expose. Her usage of logos, ethos, and pathos is an excellent source for exposing the treatment of orca whales by a major organization. The usage of orca whales is detrimental to their mental and physical health. She used spectacular examples in the film to support her argument. This film shows how orcas in captivity are being mistreated and Cowperthwaite uses examples of logos, ethos, and pathos to expose it to the world....