Blackfish Backlash

[Jahrules]

It's not necessarily a matter of the claims being correct or incorrect; but rather presented without evidence of why the claim should be believed. Thanks @Zachary for pointing this out. To be honest I wasn't thinking about the factual supportability of the article when I first read it. This is the danger of this style of reporting.

For instance:
'
The show introduces Rose literally as “the leading scientist of orcas,” but this is very misleading. Rose works for multiple organizations that directly oppose zoological facilities. She has written multiple papers against keeping animals in captivity, and has no background when it comes to the physical health of animals in zoological settings
'

A statement like this needs a source. How does the author know Rose works for these "multiple organizations" and what proof can be had for her having "no background". Does the author know Rose's full CV or is he just assuming?

The statement may be true; but without evidence to prove it; the statement does little to refute the original claims.

 

[Zimmy]

The anti-vax and pseudo-science community do this all the time. My favorite move is when they will reference a
"Dr. (XYZ)" and then proceed to quote him or her. When you look up the doctor in question you often find out he has a BS PhD. in something like "alternative" Med. So much medical science is passed off with way it is no wonder people think wearing copper bracelets, putting magnets in their shoes, or even "cleanses" achieve anything.

 

[tursiops]

Looks like the next biased propaganda movie is about to come out, "Long Gone Wild". Peta is touting it so I'm sure it's wildly one sided at best, if not completely inaccurate. I hope this does not start the cycle again. Hopefully SEAS is better prepared this time.

 

[warfelg]

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49014855

According to the BBC, SEAS is hitting back at Virgin Holidays for caving to activists "who mislead and manipulate marine mammal science to advance their agendas".

 

[Celticdog]

I was at Seaworld Orlando last month and judging by the enthusiasm of crowd, no one cares about Blackfish. The Shamu stadium was packed and everyone was cheering and enjoying the show. I thought it was quite good. It was a great example of infotainment. The handlers combined with the video screens did a very good job of providing information about the whales while maintaining the show's energy.

 

[----------------------]

I was at Seaworld Orlando last month and judging by the enthusiasm of crowd, no one cares about Blackfish. The Shamu stadium was packed and everyone was cheering and enjoying the show. I thought it was quite good. It was a great example of infotainment. The handlers combined with the video screens did a very good job of providing information about the whales while maintaining the show's energy.

As a resident of central Florida, those aren't the people that care. The people that care are the 10-20% of my friends that don't want to go to SeaWorld because of it. I wanna say, and this is quite anecdotally based, a good portion of the vegan/vegetarian community still boycotts.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

I'm sure there's plenty of overlap, but I've worked the vegans while working at an aquarium. Their reasons are more health based and environmental more than ethics, however. Also, FWIW, there are certain animals I avoid eating for both environmental and ethical reason, and I don't think animals in captivity are a problem.

 

[Jahrules]

The latest PETA falsehoods

PETA releases SeaWorld Orlando photos, alleges dolphin abuse: 'imagine if someone stood on your mouth'

If a picture says a thousand words, I guess it can also produce a thousand different arguments, too. The picture in question: SeaWorld dolphins with...

www.orlandoweekly.com

A dolphin's snout cannot be compared to a human mouth even I know this and I know next to nothing. From everything I've read/observed/ etc a dolphin's snout seems more akin to a hand.. it's how they push and manipulate things around etc. They also use it as a weapon in nature by ramming it into things.

Pretty sure if a dolphin can ram it's nose into something at full speed that puts far more pressure on it than carrying the weight of a measly human.

 

[tursiops]

The comment from the Humane Society at the end was really good. Also I'm glad the SeaWorld zoological chief didn't mince any words!

 

[Jonesta6]

So... When are they doing another fishing tournament from PETA's pier in Norfolk?

 

[Jahrules]

PETA is claiming another victory in getting AAA Northeast to stop selling SeaWorld tickets after protesting it.

SeaWorld Of Hurt: Where Happiness Tanks

SeaWorld confines sea animals to tiny tanks, where they often die prematurely from stress and other causes. Find out more about why you should never go to SeaWorld.

www.seaworldofhurt.com

 

[GrandpaD]

Former exec admits he lied about attendance...

SeaWorld exec admits he did not tell the truth about 'Blackfish'

A former SeaWorld executive admitted under oath that he did not tell the public the truth about how the documentary "Blackfish" was impacting the company, newly released court records show.

amp.clickorlando.com

 

[Jonesta6]

While that may be explosive evidence for a court case for investors, especially those with money into the company at that time, do you think we can expect to see any further SEAS fallout considering the trial seems aimed at former leadership's failures?

 

[BGWnut]

While that may be explosive evidence for a court case for investors, especially those with money into the company at that time, do you think we can expect to see any further SEAS fallout considering the trial seems aimed at former leadership's failures?

SEAS already settled last September. They and their ex-ceo had to pay $5 million. It would be unlikely that there is any further fallout for SEAS.

 

[Zimmy]

Former exec admits he lied about attendance...

SeaWorld exec admits he did not tell the truth about 'Blackfish'

A former SeaWorld executive admitted under oath that he did not tell the public the truth about how the documentary "Blackfish" was impacting the company, newly released court records show.

amp.clickorlando.com

And this is why I fail to understand when this kind of corporate culture exists investors still TRUST the org. Not saying that I don't understand why people buy stock, but why the bigger investors trust the corp enough to bet on the leadership...

IMPO This kind of problem does not happen in a vacuum, it is done and gotten away with due to a problem with the corporate culture.

 

[BGWnut]

And this is why I fail to understand when this kind of corporate culture exists investors still TRUST the org. Not saying that I don't understand why people buy stock, but why the bigger investors trust the corp enough to bet on the leadership...

IMPO This kind of problem does not happen in a vacuum, it is done and gotten away with due to a problem with the corporate culture.

I agree with you. I think SEAS had a hard time transitioning from not having to answer to shareholder because they were a subsidiary of AB to then being publicly traded who had to answer to others. I think they are doing a much better job now with investor relations than they ever did.

 

[J.J.]

TripAdvisor will no longer be offering tickets to marine parks that display, breed, or transport cetaceans in captivity.

Behind The Thrills | TripAdvisor Cuts Ties With SeaWorld and Marine Parks – Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea Behind The Thrills

behindthethrills.com

 

[Jahrules]

I advise people to not use trip advisor anyway

 

[Ice]

But like why? Why stop there? Why not ALL animals?

Oh right cuz that would remove WDW which is probably one of their biggest avenues for revenue and they would never do that.

Unless WDW has dolphins and whales that I've never seen.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but for the sake of pointing out the hypocrisy, Epcot has Dolphins.