rationalskepticism.org

quisquose wrote:

Scarlett wrote:Thanks

A genuine question quisquose, did it occur to you at all that what you were watching was cruel? I'm not having a go, it's great that this film affected you, I'm just genuinely interested. I suppose Seaworld did a great job of covering up, and lying that the public really were sucked in. It was quite shocking to see the footage of the Seaworld employees lying about the basic facts about the lifespan of whales, and the good thing they're doing in providing the "shows", which of course the whales love doing

Our 7 year-old daughter had treatment for cancer with a 50/50 outcome. Before her treatment we said she could have anything she wanted at the end of it, and her choice of swimming with dolphins, watching the Shamu show, and Disneyland in general, was what kept us going for a year.

Did it occur to me that it was cruel? Well, yes, I guess ... but no more than the performing seals and dolphins, or manatees and sharks in tanks, or zoos in general. And so much of it is wrapped up in the wrapper of environment and conservation.

We were conned just like so many others, and we went again to be "entertained" even if I did think it was cruel.

Hey even the trainers fell for it, even those now speaking out against their former employees, so it's hard to criticise the audience.

For this reason the film was probably all the more powerful. It left our (now 17 year old) daughter quite distressed, "Do you think they treated the dolphins like that at Discovery Cove?"

We certainly won't be going again.