“If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don’t you think you’d get a little psychotic?” argues Jane Velez-Mitchell in CNN’s Blackfish, the documentary stirring up international controversy about the ethicality of aquariums and aquatic theme parks. The film focuses on Sea World’s Tilikum, a 32-year-old bull orca linked to the deaths of three people,two of whom were his trainers. Since its premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Blackfish has gained enormous popularity and critical acclaim, sparking an international dialogue surrounding the many issues around holding large species captive.
Unlike many zoo and aquatic animals that are born in captivity, the star of Blackfish, Tilikum, was ripped from Icelandic waters at the age of two and herded to a Canadian theme park, the now defunct “Sealand of the Pacific” in Victoria, British Columbia. After eight years in captivity, Tilikum was involved in the drowning of a female trainer, after which he was relocated to SeaWorld Orlando. Marine biologists and zoologists say this sudden “snap” — when captive animals rebel violently — is a result of “zoochosis,” a state of paranoia and confusion wherein animals exhibit unusual behaviour like excessive pacing, licking of cage bars, and attacking other animals, trainers, and even their own offspring. Most recently, in 2011, a female polar bear at the Toronto Zoo mauled her three cubs shortly after giving birth, killing and eating one, skinning another, and severely injuring the last. This behaviour, far from characteristic of wild polar bears, was deemed a result of the stresses of captivity.
Although focused on SeaWorld’s orcas, Blackfish also acts as a catalyst for the fight against animal exploitation, of which Canada is one offender. Between the Toronto Zoo, African Lion Safari, and the new Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, Toronto is a national exotic animal hub, with each institution home to countless species of both endangered and common animals. However, what Blackfish urges us to consider when we visit aquariums and zoos, is the sacrifice of the welfare of the animals they contain, for the sake of human entertainment and enjoyment.
The dialogue Blackfish has inspired can also be applied to the exploitation of land mammals that inhabit zoos. The uphill battle for the removal of elephants Iringa, Toka, and Thika from the Toronto Zoo finally ended in October when, despite a two-year delay and intervention from Bob Barker, the former host of The Price is Right, the elephants arrived in their new home in San Andreas, California. Although the relocation is a step in the right direction, we still have a long way to go in the struggle to improve the lives of captive animals.
Even though the Toronto Zoo and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada are both involved in animal rehabilitation and conversation initiatives, they both harvest, buy, and sell animals which are not endangered and therefore have little reason to be taken from their natural habitat and indefinitely sequestered in pens and glorified bathtubs. When people visit zoos and aquariums, they are not observing any animal’s natural behaviour; what they are witnessing is how animals that desire freedom act when they are confined. With that in mind, how can we be surprised when they decide to rebel?
Emma Kikulis is a second-year student at UofT studying English and sociology
