My sister insisted that I watch this. We are a family of documentary lovers and when we find a good one we like to watch it together so that we can discuss it. I was reluctant. When we watched The Cove I didn't sleep well for weeks. Even now I can't go to the zoo without feeling guilty. But today with Dr. J working I decided to watch it. If you ever want to go to Sea World again without guilt I suggest you don't watch. Spoiler alerts: You get an inside look into how the whales were captured. Let me give you a clue, it is not good. You witness whale on whale aggression, how they are separated from family members(I cried), how the trainers are given a lot of misinformation and how in the end the combination of stress, aggression, and lack of knowledge leads to major safety hazards. Orca are a beautiful, highly intelligent creatures. For our own entertainment we have put them and ourselves into highly dangerous situations. It is a pity that in an attempt to get closer to them and enjoy them better we have essentially created a situation that is a tragedy.
Last year I found a book written by a woman who had been raised by monkeys in a Colombian jungle. She described the terror experienced by the animals when humans would come hunting animals or capturing them for zoos or sport. I had never really considered the family separation issues before, but it was quite sad.
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