Music

Musicians are boycotting SeaWorld after watching "Blackfish"

by Mark Teo

There’s been no shortage of debate swirling around Blackfish, the documentary covering the killing of Dawn Brancheau, a seasoned SeaWorld trainer, by an Orca. The discussion soon turned into an ethical one, and the water park fielded heavy criticism about their treatment of sea creatures, the cruelty of keeping Orcas in captivity, and the working conditions of Sea World itself—and accordingly, a wave of performers have begun to cancel their scheduled appearances at the park.

The Barenaked Ladies, Heart, Willie Nelson, and notorious animal-rights activist Joan Jett have been the first to cancel their shows at the water park. At current, the musicians join a chorus of disapproval directed at Sea World; a change.org petition calling for the release of their dolphins and orcas has already reached 10,000 signatures.

“If Sea World really and truly cares for these animals, as it professes, it should set them all free, back to the oceans where they belong,” the petition says. “It is really a sorry state of affairs that human beings still rely on animals for their amusement in this modern era!”

Evidently, the musicians in question agree. Heart, for their part, addressed the problem directly on Twitter.

Heart has chosen to decline their forthcoming performance at SeaWorld on 2/9/14 due to the controversial documentary film ‘Black Fish’.

— Heart (@officialheart) December 8, 2013

They claimed that they’d been booked the show before they watched Blackfish and learned about the conditions Orcas experienced at SeaWorld. The Barenaked Ladies, meanwhile, announced that they’d be boycotting SeaWorld several weeks back.

We’ve talked things over, and decided not to play at Seaworld at this time. Please see all details here: http://t.co/SLz1LUp7Nf

— Barenaked Ladies (@barenakedladies) November 28, 2013

“This is a complicated issue, and we don’t claim to understand all of it, but we don’t feel comfortable proceeding with the gig at this time,” the band said in a statement. “The Seaworld [sic] folks have been gracious, and extended us invitations to the park to learn more about what they do, and how they do it.”

Oh yeah, about those Sea World folks: They issued a statement blasting Blackfish, claiming the film distorted the reality about sea-mammal captivity. “To promote its bias that killer whales should not be maintained in a zoological setting, the film paints a distorted picture that withholds from viewers key facts about SeaWorld,” they said. “Among them, that SeaWorld is one of the world’s most respected zoological institutions, that SeaWorld rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild hundreds of wild animals every year, and that SeaWorld commits millions of dollars annually to conservation and scientific research.”

It sounds like—and likely is—PR positioning, although they bring up the same questions as Blackfish: How much freedom should we give to zoologists? Check the trailer for the documentary below.