Define "Propaganda......"

"An aspect of the dolphin debate is the way that some establishments gave implicit support to the anti's. It is the oldest trick in the book to pick off individuals one at a time. The debate is not going to go away when there are no more cetaceans or elephants or polar bears or ..... !" David Lindsay (1995)

The 'documentary' Blackfish' has now been shown on CNN; a channel that proves that in this instance using the word 'news' is an oxymoron.

It is hard to be objective about such a partisan movie with it melodrama and noise.  Presenting skewed information without historical context involving former employers of Sea World with an axe to grind and the collusion of anti-captive bloggers such as David Kirby, writer of the infamous 'Death At Sea World'.

It is no surprise that both Dawn Brancheau's family (a trainer killed in a tragic accident at Sea World in February 2010) and the marine parks wanted nothing to do with either Kirby's above cited book or the 'Blackfish' film. They knew this was a ruse by members and supporters of the animal-rights industry (such as PeTA) to attack them and realised that both fairness and objectivity would play no part.

Most of the information presented in the film has been in the public domain for many years and the various incidence and 'facts' have been the substance of spin and propaganda from the animal-rights movement.  In addition, despite former Sea World trainers stating that this information would be collated for publication in bona fide peer review journals (where it could be objectively scrutinised) this has never happened.

Having seen the film, I could write reams on what was wrong with it but I think Melissa A Smith has done an excellent job in covering many of the issues both with the original trailer and with the film itself:

The Stupidity of the Blackfish Trailer | Anti-SeaworldDocumentary

 Why Blackfish is Misleading, Unoriginal, and ‘Stupid’

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the film is its covert 'mission creep' which moves its subject material from the care of killer whales in captivity to the keeping of all cetaceans in general such as bottle nose dolphins; a species that have successfully thrived in captivity for decades. 

Moreover, the film has been gleefully grabbed by animal-rights supporters to widen their agenda against the keeping of animals such as elephants and other species and generalising this to attacking all zoos and aquaria be they good or bad. 

They, of course, carefully avoid citing their own self-styled 'sanctuaries', which (although using husbandry techniques derived from zoos) are somehow superior.  These are the places where all zoos animals must be sent to give them a better life; such as the fate of the three Toronto Zoo elephants that for political reasons went to the animal-rights run PAWS sanctuary to join other elephants and friendly Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

As regards the zoo world, I find it ironic that I wrote anarticle on this matter in 1994, which was published in the Association ofBritish Wild Animal Keepers journal Ratel.  At the time, many zoo people scoffed at the premise I was trying to alert them to. Sadly, today it is becoming true.

RELATED LINKS:

A Response to Blackfish

Saw Blackfish? Meet and learn about Tilikum for yourself at SeaWorld Orlando (Video)

CNN's broadcast of "Blackfish" a breach of ethics

Blackfish and the Selective Skeptic 

Cove Cultists?

Morgan - A suitable candidate for rehabilitation and release?

'All zoo people who point a finger at circus's or hunting, and all circus people who point a finger at rodeo and hunting, and any pet owner who points a finger at bull fighting, keep this thought in your narrow little minds,'  

"An aspect of the dolphin debate is the way that some establishments gave implicit support to the anti's. It is the oldest trick in the book to pick off individuals one at a time. The debate is not going to go away when there are no more cetaceans or elephants or polar bears or ..... !" David Lindsay (1995)