Tonight on Netflix: After this movie, you’ll never look at water parks the same way again

On this day in February 2010, the daily orca spectacle at SeaWorld Water Park in Orlando, Florida, did not go as planned. Although thousands of tourists came to applaud the aerial exploits of Tilikum, the biggest man in the park who weighs more than 5 tons, the latter looked more nervous than usual and there was drama in the final minutes of the performance.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau, who is responsible for hosting the “show”, suddenly finds herself grabbed by the animal’s jaws and dragged to the bottom of the pool. He won’t make it out alive. During his 34-year captivity, Tilikum caused the death of three people. But why did the whale kill its train?

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A fascinating documentary

Why did he kill Tilikum? First of all, to this simple question, the director of Blackfish tries to answer by conducting a deep and thorough research in the water park industry. Compiling numerous testimonies from former trainers, specialists and SeaWorld employees, a 2013 documentary by Gabriela Cowperthwaite reaches an unacceptable conclusion: Tilikum’s three victims should never have died in the orca tank, simply because the orcas should never have been there. You.

At once poignant, poignant and traumatic, Blackfish offers its viewers an irrevocable insight into the deplorable conditions of orcas in captivity, in the parks where they are the main attraction. Born to travel the oceans, often cut off from their natural environment at a very young age, they find themselves circling in enclosed pools for the rest of their lives, greatly reduced in comparison to their peers due to their confinement.

The movie that changed things

A true cinematic one-two punch, Blackfish had a significant impact on the water park industry, even if its impact is difficult to measure precisely. According to Research led by Laure Boissat at the University of OxfordA year after the film’s release, SeaWorld’s stock plunged 33%, and in 2016 the park announced it was ending its orca breeding program, explaining that the current generation would be the last to remain in captivity. that Article from Le Monde.

Despite these developments, many orcas are still kept in other parks around the world.

With an excellent average of 4,450 out of 5 stars and considered one of the best documentaries by AlloCiné viewers, Blackfish still had a significant impact on the evolution of the animal cause.

(re)discover the trailer for the film…