Danika Gallup- Junior at Saint Michael's College- Reaction to "Blackfish"

 Danika Gallup- Junior at Saint Michael's College- Reaction to "Blackfish"

How do you think CNN's "Blackfish" has influenced the public opinion of SeaWorld?

I think it caused a knee-jerk reaction to SeaWorld.  Everyone who's seen or heard of "Blackfish" is very against them,  but I'm not sure how lasting this change will be.

SeaWorld recently filed an appeal against the new ruling that trainers must be behind a barrier while interacting with the orcas- how do you feel about this law and what do you think the chances of SeaWorld winning the appeal are?

I think it's a fan-freaking-tastic idea, I don't see any reason whatsoever for trainers to be doing flips off  whales, it's just pure fireworks and showing off for the sake of showing off. There's  no educational value coming from it, and it can result in really bad things, like death. I don't think their appeal will be successful.

What social effects can you imagine the public experiencing if animal captivity ceased to exist? In your opinion, would this be a negative or positive change and why?

With our educational tools today, from a social aspect, I don't think it would be a problem if animal captivity ceased to exist because you can get information other ways.  After "Blackfish", I realized captivity for the sake of captivity is disgusting, and I'd never thought about it that way. I think the captivity for injured or for rehabilitating animals isn't bad, but it should be in a setting like Yellowstone, where the public can see them as they exist naturally.