Ok, I finally tried to watch Blackfish.

[softspot]

The part about Sealand in the early days is horrible. Well, it's all horrible, but imagining them in that dark metal box breaks my heart.

[koopa17]

I know, it was so hard to watch. I hate people too. I have some serious guilt about my former love for Sea World now.

[polka]

yeah, I'm not even going to try to watch it. Too sad.

[isabel]

I recorded it. I won't watch it when DH is here though. It will hurt him too much. I'm simultaneously anxious about and dreading seeing it.

[nursewife]

That was so heart breaking to watch. I felt ill when the babies were stolen and the mothers were crying. I loved my trip to SeaWorld as a kid. I feel guilty about it now. I wish there were other ways for inland people to see that kind of wildlife without the animal needing to suffer.

[rosiedozie]

We watched it in the theatre - that was a fun date night (not). As hard as it was to watch, I'm still glad that I saw it

[Deleted]

I don't get the guilt so many humans seem to feel.

Have you seen what other invasive species do to environments?

We are the ONLY species self aware enough to try to go back and temper our effect on the planet. If anything else had been as wildly successful as we have been, they'd have stripped their environment down to their own extinction by now.

[shostakovich]

Oct 27, 2013 23:16:38 GMT -5 toledo said:

I've been dreading it. I've only made it 15 minutes in and I'm shutting this shit off. I'm crying. I hate people. Sometimes I think we were the worst mistake Mother Nature ever made.

Agree 100%.  

And I don't think I am able to watch this.  I know I should buck up in order to better inform myself, but I've been kind of overly emotional lately (I might have cried watching Once Upon a Time last night), so I think I need to get that under control first.

ETA: I'm already tearing up at the comments in this thread.  Not ready.

[spitforspat]

Oct 28, 2013 7:48:09 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

I don't get the guilt so many humans seem to feel.

Have you seen what other invasive species do to environments?

We are the ONLY species self aware enough to try to go back and temper our effect on the planet. If anything else had been as wildly successful as we have been, they'd have stripped their environment down to their own extinction by now.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm assuming the guilt related to it is making another life miserable for our own personal entertainment.

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2013 7:54:11 GMT -5 toledo said:

Oct 28, 2013 7:48:09 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

I don't get the guilt so many humans seem to feel.

Have you seen what other invasive species do to environments?

We are the ONLY species self aware enough to try to go back and temper our effect on the planet. If anything else had been as wildly successful as we have been, they'd have stripped their environment down to their own extinction by now.

We're so awesome.

Well we kind of are. Unprecedented in global history and all.

We've done some shitty things to other animals, but all we can do now is try to fix it and move forward. I don't see the point in the self loathing.

[spitforspat]

But. We're still doing those things to those animals. We haven't stopped.

[Deleted]

I don't think I can bring myself to watch it. I broke down and cried my eyes out the other day over something I saw on the local dog rescue/shelter FB page. These things are not good for my mental health, especially when quitting prozac cold turkey.

[messykitchen]

I won't watch it. Not because of self loathing or guilt though, but because I have empathy. I can barely watch Jane Velez Mitchell or whomever is on HLN who talks about sad puppies and cows.

I couldn't watch The Cove either, I think that is what it's called? Where they round up the dolphins for slaughter every year.

I eat meat. I know we do things to animals. I just don't want to watch it.

Maybe that makes me a hypocrite.

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2013 7:59:21 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

But. We're still doing those things to those animals. We haven't stopped.

Isn't the point of the documentary to make people aware of it so public opinion will turn against it? I would assume that's step one in fixing the problem.

However, I personally think keeping captive bred animals for zoos etc. is sort of a middle ground. Harvesting the animals from the wild in the first place was wrong, but now we've got them several generations deep, and using them for education regarding conservation etc. doesn't seem bad to me.

[zzuvet]

Oct 28, 2013 8:04:22 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

Oct 28, 2013 7:59:21 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

But. We're still doing those things to those animals. We haven't stopped.

Isn't the point of the documentary to make people aware of it so public opinion will turn against it? I would assume that's step one in fixing the problem.

However, I personally think keeping captive bred animals for zoos etc. is sort of a middle ground. Harvesting the animals from the wild in the first place was wrong, but now we've got them several generations deep, and using them for education regarding conservation etc. doesn't seem bad to me.

I agree with the bolded statement. The captive bred animals can't be returned to the wild, so, what else is there to do with them? I work in laboratory animal research and even within myself I find I have mixed feelings about my work. One one hand, I am animal lover and I am proud to say I love and care for each one of my animals at work, I name them, I train them, I give them special treats on holidays and birthdays, I mourn them when they are gone. I hate what has to be done to them though. I hate that some of them come from the wild. I had a serious medical condition as a child and I owe it to research animals that I am here and who I am today. 

That was a bit of a tangent, but yeah, wild caught for entertainment is terrible for their mental heath.

[pinkpinot]

Oct 28, 2013 8:04:22 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

Oct 28, 2013 7:59:21 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

But. We're still doing those things to those animals. We haven't stopped.

Isn't the point of the documentary to make people aware of it so public opinion will turn against it? I would assume that's step one in fixing the problem.

However, I personally think keeping captive bred animals for zoos etc. is sort of a middle ground. Harvesting the animals from the wild in the first place was wrong, but now we've got them several generations deep, and using them for education regarding conservation etc. doesn't seem bad to me.

In this case, the whales are harming/killing trainers.  Sea World is covering it up.  Clearly Orcas cannot and should not be held in captivity.  It goes against every fiber of their being and how they live in the wild.  It's cruel.  It's mean.  It's disgusting.  There is no education to be had by "studying" a whale swimming in circles in a concrete pool.  These are highly intelligent, highly social groups of mammals that spend their entire lives with their mothers.  You cannot replicate that environment at Sea World so I fail to see what education can be gained.

[pinkpinot]

I also want to note that Sea World is using the sperm of an Orca that has killed trainers. Any breeder knows you would never, ever breed from an animal that has shown aggression towards a human. Ever.

[koopa17]

Omg. How can you NOT understand humans feeling guilty for making the lives of another species fucking miserable, all for our entertainment? Just because humans are capable of changing their ways (which, we haven't yet in this case) doesn't mean we shouldn't feel empathy for these animals. Jesus Christ.

[BaliHai]

It was incredibly difficult to watch, but I am glad I did. I wish more people would. I don't think, realistically, SeaWorld will ever close their doors - that would mean taking responsibility, which they have steadfastly done the exact opposite of since the first whispers of this documentary hit the media - but I can hope.

I said this in anther Blackfish thread months ago, but any "good" SW does is more or less a wash as long as they continue doing what they're currently doing. There's no argument in the world for keeping animals captive for entertainment. (And before it's asked, no, H and I do not patronize zoos/aquariums unless it's under special circumstances, like for birthday parties. We used to, as long as they were AZA accredited, but I'm just not really comfortable with that anymore, either.)

[bbaggins]

I watched this on Saturday and it's pretty heartbreaking.

...that's all I have to contribute.

[nomad100]

DH and I watched Blackfish last night and both of us cried.

I get the need for conservation and believe that it is important but, and this is the biggest part, I don't believe that SeaWorld is in it for the conservation aspect. It is all about the money.

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2013 8:52:14 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

(And before it's asked, no, H and I do not patronize zoos/aquariums unless it's under special circumstances, like for birthday parties. We used to, as long as they were AZA accredited, but I'm just not really comfortable with that anymore, either.)

Oh! Well I'm sure the animals suspend their suffering during birthday parties!

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2013 8:02:42 GMT -5 vino said:

I don't think I can bring myself to watch it. I broke down and cried my eyes out the other day over something I saw on the local dog rescue/shelter FB page. These things are not good for my mental health, especially when quitting prozac cold turkey.

Don't watch it.

[BaliHai]

Oct 28, 2013 9:18:27 GMT -5 @stellasmom said:

Oct 28, 2013 8:52:14 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

(And before it's asked, no, H and I do not patronize zoos/aquariums unless it's under special circumstances, like for birthday parties. We used to, as long as they were AZA accredited, but I'm just not really comfortable with that anymore, either.)

Oh! Well I'm sure the animals suspend their suffering during birthday parties!

We're not going to miss our nephews'/niece's birthday parties because of our personal feelings about zoos/aquariums, even if it's out of our comfort level. Choosing our battles there.

[zzuvet]

I didn't say it suspends their suffering. It is obviously for my own piece of mind. And of course, I can't give them party hats, USDA would have a heart attack. I can't change what happens to them, there are strict rules on what I can and cannot give them. They are animals, they enjoy an extra snack here and there.

I think it is hypocritical to call animal research an egregious mistake if you have ever taken any sort of medication, had any sort of medical problem that was treated or even if you donate to any fund saying they are finding a way to cure cancer. How else do you think they find these cures? Its from the thousands of mice we take care of every day. I don't always like what they do to my animals, it is especially hard with the dogs and non human primates, but until they let us do this to people, I can't see another way.

[Deleted]

Stellas once said that if women ever lost the right to vote she wouldn't bother to protest. She'd just calmly and patiently wait for the moral zeitgeist to sweep us all back to the polls.

[Deleted]

Where did you wacth it, Toledo?

I only see it available on iTunes.

[MamaMaui24]

Oct 28, 2013 9:43:39 GMT -5 @imback said:

Where did you wacth it, Toledo?

I only see it available on iTunes.

CNN. 

"Watch an encore of 'Blackfish' on CNN, Saturday, Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. ET"

[game blouses]

As a documentary it's very well done. I thought the trainer interviews were fascinating, and the footage from the shows (especially the one with the trainer who almost drowned, omg) was so compelling. I absolutely cried when they took the babies away from the mothers.

[Deleted]

Oct 28, 2013 9:40:19 GMT -5 05heel said:

Stellas once said that if women ever lost the right to vote she wouldn't bother to protest. She'd just calmly and patiently wait for the moral zeitgeist to sweep us all back to the polls.

Lol whut?

I have a feeling time has warped your impression of whateverthefuck we were talking about.