Many of you may have heard about the documentary "Blackfish" released in 2013. If you have not watched this documentary I highly suggest you find time to do so.

This film follows the life of Tilikum, an orca whale (commonly referred to as “killer whales,” in this article I will use the two interchangeably) captured at a young age and forced to live in captivity and learn tricks for our enjoyment. Tilikum has killed three trainers while in captivity, which you may think, “Yeah, he’s a wild animal that’s expected.” With a name like “killer whale,” who would disagree with you? I certainly wouldn't if I didn’t know that no reports have ever been made about a killer whale killing a human while they’re in the wild. Yes, zero! None. Nada.

So, then the next logical question is why? Why are these whales in captivity killing their trainers, who claim they have such a special bond with these animals? I think an analogy is in order here.

If you were forced to stay in a little cubicle for years, only leaving to do a 30-minute performance every day and some days you don’t even get fed if you don’t perform up to the standard would this not make you angry and frustrated?

Now think about if you were forced to share your cubicle with someone else without food some days and tell me you wouldn’t act out in aggression if this went on for 25 years or more. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t act out. You would be frustrated, irritated and hangry and let’s face it, nobody wants to be around anybody that is hangry. That is the life of 12,000-pound Tilikum and many other aquatic animals. With any orca whale living in captivity, it reduces their natural living space to less than one percent of what they would have in the wild.

Enough of the facts, if you still need convincing on why capturing whales or any other aquatic animals for that matter, do not fret, I come prepared.

See, we justify going to watch these animal shows because it's entertainment! You’re right it is definitely entertaining to see a 12,000-pound animal balance a human on its nose until that orca gets too frustrated and makes a wrong move and chaos breaks out and the trainer struggles to get over to the edge…

Just another close call.

No worries, everyone is fine, right?

Yeah, the trainer is just a bit shaken up, get them a blanket and they’ll be fine in a few minutes.

But what about the whale, ya know? The animal is the real moneymaker in this whole operation. He may have just missed a cue from the trainer or did he get so frustrated that he acted out? Remember that fun fact from above, zero humans have been reported killed by orca whales in the wild.

Instead on punishing these animals when unfortunate events like this take place, why is it never an option to stop the shows? How many more people will have to get injured during these shows before Sea World (sorry to call you our SeaWorld) and other businesses understand that these animals belong in the ocean, their natural habitat!

This makes me wonder why we insist upon ripping these animals from their families and we then think that it's okay because we want to watch them? We would never be okay with ripping a child away from their mother to use for entertainment, so what gives us the right to do that with any animal? Because we’re humans and demand to be entertained?! I’m sorry that is no reason especially since we share this planet with other creatures, it is just as much theirs and it is ours and we need to start realizing that.

I have been watching animal documentaries and shows since I was a little girl and I never thought that humans were so capable of treating other creatures so horrifically. I hope all of you watch this amazing documentary just to become aware of what goes on behind these entertaining shows.

I’ll leave you with this quote by Dave Duffus, who is an expert whale researcher:

“I’m not at all interested in having my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter grow up thinking that it’s normalized to have these intelligent, highly evolved animals in concrete pools. I don’t want her to think that’s how we treat the kin that we find ourselves around on this planet. I think it’s atrocious.”

I can only hope that we wake up and realize that captivity kills.