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143 reviews for:
Death at Seaworld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity
David Kirby
4.22 AVERAGE
143 reviews for:
Death at Seaworld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity
David Kirby
4.22 AVERAGE
overall this was a good book. There are definitely some dry or tedious moments. Other than that, this was informative and insightful.
I've been trying to find the words to write some kind of review for this book, but it's been very hard to express myself. There are so many hard truths in this book, some that I was already aware of, and some that never crossed my mind. I think this is a very good book for people to read because it isn't just a clear-cut Whales in captivity are a bad idea I think it fairly presents both sides of the spectrum here.
This book covers a lot of the whale industry, from marine biology and study, to the goings on at SeaWorld. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration given by biologist Naomi Rose especially. I cannot imagine what she went through when she was up and coming in her career, knowing so early on about that was happening with those captive whales, and never giving up her campaign to free them, no matter how many smear campaigns was taken out against her. I especially admire that she never set out to bring out the SeaWorld company down completely - she just wanted those whales to be free.
SeaWorlds main defense throughout everything was that if not for them, the world would not have its love for Marine life that it does today. It was a major contributor to science studies and wildlife conservation. While perhaps this may have been true a few decades ago, I still cannot believe this is still even up for debate. SeaWorld has been proven countless times that their "educational" demonstrations and orca shows are not accurate and don't even contain that much information about these Cetaceans, and it doesn't leave park goers with any more drive to help with conservation.
I felt a lot of sympathy for the ex-trainers as well. I can understand most of their stories; going to SeaWorld as a young child and falling in love with these ocean giants. Finally achieving their life goal of being in water with them, who wouldn't want that? But in actual reality it is such a dangerous endevour. There isn't enough safety protocols in the world to make it 100% safe for them. Not only that, but despite the risks of their life, you have to be made of ice not to love those whales and once the veneer of what goes on behind the scenes start to disintegrate its hard to keep lying to yourself. These whales are not getting the proper treatment they deserve, or could get out in the wild. They are living a fraction lifespan of what they could be in the wild. But if they just up and leave, there are more to take their place. What kind of stand does that help?
This book was a hard read, but not in the sense because it was a non-fiction, or that it was just info-dump after info-dump. There is so much heart and emotion in this book, it definitely read like a story. I couldn't read this for long stretches at a time. Some of the stuff in here is truly horrific. I am haunted by some of the things I have read, and it has made me slightly obsessed; I've been scrolling through google non-stop since I started this book, and I have also watched Blackfish (the documentary about the Orcas in SeaWorld) three times over. It is just so absorbing, and this has really inspired me to look deeper into this industry. I know I am a bit late to the game, as this all came out a couple of years ago, but I think it is still a worthy cause today. I hope more people read this and are inspired by it as much as I am.
This book covers a lot of the whale industry, from marine biology and study, to the goings on at SeaWorld. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration given by biologist Naomi Rose especially. I cannot imagine what she went through when she was up and coming in her career, knowing so early on about that was happening with those captive whales, and never giving up her campaign to free them, no matter how many smear campaigns was taken out against her. I especially admire that she never set out to bring out the SeaWorld company down completely - she just wanted those whales to be free.
SeaWorlds main defense throughout everything was that if not for them, the world would not have its love for Marine life that it does today. It was a major contributor to science studies and wildlife conservation. While perhaps this may have been true a few decades ago, I still cannot believe this is still even up for debate. SeaWorld has been proven countless times that their "educational" demonstrations and orca shows are not accurate and don't even contain that much information about these Cetaceans, and it doesn't leave park goers with any more drive to help with conservation.
I felt a lot of sympathy for the ex-trainers as well. I can understand most of their stories; going to SeaWorld as a young child and falling in love with these ocean giants. Finally achieving their life goal of being in water with them, who wouldn't want that? But in actual reality it is such a dangerous endevour. There isn't enough safety protocols in the world to make it 100% safe for them. Not only that, but despite the risks of their life, you have to be made of ice not to love those whales and once the veneer of what goes on behind the scenes start to disintegrate its hard to keep lying to yourself. These whales are not getting the proper treatment they deserve, or could get out in the wild. They are living a fraction lifespan of what they could be in the wild. But if they just up and leave, there are more to take their place. What kind of stand does that help?
This book was a hard read, but not in the sense because it was a non-fiction, or that it was just info-dump after info-dump. There is so much heart and emotion in this book, it definitely read like a story. I couldn't read this for long stretches at a time. Some of the stuff in here is truly horrific. I am haunted by some of the things I have read, and it has made me slightly obsessed; I've been scrolling through google non-stop since I started this book, and I have also watched Blackfish (the documentary about the Orcas in SeaWorld) three times over. It is just so absorbing, and this has really inspired me to look deeper into this industry. I know I am a bit late to the game, as this all came out a couple of years ago, but I think it is still a worthy cause today. I hope more people read this and are inspired by it as much as I am.
David Kirby goes into a world where most people would never dream of going. He basically went head to head with widely known company SeaWorld. Having talked to David Kirby in depth about this book, that was never his intention. He goes about telling the story of Tilikum, and the other whales at SeaWorld through facts and facts only. While some people see this book as one-sided, which it very well may be, it is only at the fault of SeaWorld themselves, who refused to speak with Kirby about the issues people have at SeaWorld and the trainers that use to work there.
Excellently done. Fantastic read. Highly recommended for anyone who is or is not interested in this sort of thing. It makes you look at SeaWorld differently either way.
Excellently done. Fantastic read. Highly recommended for anyone who is or is not interested in this sort of thing. It makes you look at SeaWorld differently either way.
After reading this book, it is clear to me that SeaWorld is not the sort of place I will ever be choosing to support until they have released their killer whales and stopped using false statistics to justify their endangering the animal trainers.
informative
medium-paced
After watching a documentary about the same issue, I was curious to read the book. It is long, but quick to get through. It obviously has a spin to it and is biased. However, I agree with the side the book took, so I wasn't opposed to it. My biggest criticism is that the book left the reader hanging in the outcome of the OSHA hearing. I had to go look up the results myself. Not sure if the author was up against a deadline and had to publish without it, but I felt left hanging.
Het boek begon heel sterk, waardoor ik het super leuk vond om te lezen en het iedereen zelfs wel wilde aanraden te gaan lezen.
Alleen werd het boek vervelend om te lezen door alle rechtzaken en andere zaken waar heeeel diep op ingegaan werd. Ook op het leven van Naomi Ross, ik vond een kleine backstory wel leuk maar hoefde nou ook weer niet haar hele levensgescheidenis te lezen (met alle respect verder)
Ik had gehoopt meer te lezen over de discussie pro en anti captivity en over de (voormalig) trainers en orka’s in Seaworld. En minder over alle ‘technische’ dingen als alle rechtzaken en vergaderingen over Keiko, die van OSHA en Seaworld etc etc
Kortom ik heb geleerd van het boek, en er waren hoofdstukken die ik echt zomaar uit had en waardoor ik heel graag verder wilde lezen, maar er waren ook hoofdstukken waardoor ik wilde stoppen met lezen.
Alleen werd het boek vervelend om te lezen door alle rechtzaken en andere zaken waar heeeel diep op ingegaan werd. Ook op het leven van Naomi Ross, ik vond een kleine backstory wel leuk maar hoefde nou ook weer niet haar hele levensgescheidenis te lezen (met alle respect verder)
Ik had gehoopt meer te lezen over de discussie pro en anti captivity en over de (voormalig) trainers en orka’s in Seaworld. En minder over alle ‘technische’ dingen als alle rechtzaken en vergaderingen over Keiko, die van OSHA en Seaworld etc etc
Kortom ik heb geleerd van het boek, en er waren hoofdstukken die ik echt zomaar uit had en waardoor ik heel graag verder wilde lezen, maar er waren ook hoofdstukken waardoor ik wilde stoppen met lezen.
Before I read this book, I was kind of against Seaworld. by the time I finished it, I felt like going to American myself and staging a process outside the theme park. my family were getting annoyed at me for yelling 'seaworld is evil' whenever the book came up in conversation, but after you read this book, you will be doing the same. READ IT