Marine Mammal Prisons: Incarcerated for Life
Oooh, don’t miss this: The deadly consequences of the marine mammal entertainment industry are on screen in the new film A Fall From Freedom, produced by San Francisco–based EarthViews Productions. In hardball interviews with marine scientists, whistleblowing former trainers, and theme park PR mouths, the scope and scale of the suffering of all the dolphins and whales who have died in parks like SeaWorld is made clear.
The movie comes on the heels of Outside magazine reporter Tim Zimmerman’s scathing investigative report about this insanely cruel industry, called “Blood in the Water.” Describing the behavior of orcas in an “aqua park” in Spain, the piece notes that the whales used “their teeth to peel away strips of [the pool’s coating] from the pool walls like bored kids picking at loose paint.” Notes of a trainer monitoring one female orca’s “frequent unhappy vocalizations” describes her as “back to feeling insecure when separated, alone, both in shows & in sessions.” This piece makes riveting reading.
If you’re hitting the road this summer, heed the plea from PETA pal Bob Barker to drive right on by marine theme parks and let SeaWorld know that you won’t be buying a ticket.
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
