Week 3 Team Assignment Blackfish and Sea World PDF

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Team assignment 3...

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Talking Points ● We recognize the concerns the release of Blackfish has caused to our loyal SeaWorld guests and community and want to ensure that the health of our animals, trainers and guests is our top priority. ● We believe that the Blackfish documentary does not accurately portray how we treat our employees or animals. ● SeaWorld will conduct investigations into the incidents cited in the documentary and will make changes to better house, train and nurture our sea animals. We will do this by looking at additional research of the habits that our animals live in. ● At the core of any business and research facility, like SeaWorld, are ethical practices. It is in our best interest to continue developing and enforcing our Code of Conduct throughout our parks.

Ahead of the film’s release, SeaWorld should have taken stronger steps to address the problems. Considering the cruel nature of the content portrayed in the documentary as well as the longstanding history of trainer-whale incidents, it would be unrealistic to simply assume that the attention will blow over. In order to manage and restore the company’s reputation, Seaworld should recognize and publicly accept the accidents that occurred and ensure that they never happen again. Due to the decades-long history that killer whales have with trainers, SeaWorld should revise their shows and reconsider their usage of killer whales. Additionally, the company should honor Dawn and other trainers who have lost their lives while working to further the mission of SeaWorld; they should consider compensating the families of these trainers. SeaWorld’s response to the release of Blackfish was too hostile considering the sensitivity of the subject of a lost human life. Instead of recognizing that a tragic accident occurred, they claimed that the filmmakers are heavily biased and did not understand zoological procedures. However, SeaWorld was smart in highlighting its conservation efforts and scientific research. In addition, they cite a handful of scientific papers in hopes that their credibility will be restored. Still, the response by SeaWorld was not viable. One of the most shameful parts of SeaWorld’s response was sending an email to media organizations with a link to a video of one of the whistleblowers using a racial slur. While this action is completely unacceptable, launching a smear campaign while you are actively being smeared is not a good look.

Sources ● CNN, “SeaWorld responds to questions about captive orcas, 'Blackfish' film”, https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/us/seaworld-blackfish-qa/index.html ● Voice of San Diego, “A Brief History of SeaWorld's 'Blackfish' Damage Control”, https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/a-brief-history-of-seaworlds-blackfishdamage-control/ ● The San Diego Union-Tribune, “SeaWorld blasts ex-trainer’s character”, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/tourism/sdut-seaworld-attacks-killerwhale-trainer-book-author-2015mar31-htmlstory.html#article-copy...