Blackfish sparks debate over taking kids to animal parks

.cnn_html_media_utility before color red content '>>' font size 9px line height 12px padding right 1px .cnnstrylccimg640 margin 0 27px 14px 0 .captionText filter alpha(opacity 100) opacity 1 .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a visited .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a link .captionText a .captionText a visited .captiontext a link color 004276 outline medium none .cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto margin 0 auto padding right 68px width 270px > Killer whales or orcas were first put on public display in the 1960s. The best known killer whale shows in the United States are at SeaWorld Parks which are synonymous with their Shamu killer whale shows seen here. SeaWorld's first park opened in San Diego California in March 1964 with only a handful of employees a few dolphins sea lions and two aquariums. The park introduced orcas the next year and they quickly became the stars of the park's shows. A steady stream of celebrities have posed with SeaWorld's killer whales including actress Halle Berry seen here in 2009. SeaWorld opened its Orlando park in 1973 where the first killer whale was born in captivity in 1985. SeaWorld emphasizes that it is dedicated to education entertainment research and conservation of all its marine animals. Here two orcas at SeaWorld Orlando perform in 2000. The 1993 hit movie Free Willy captured hearts and sparked a massive campaign to free Keiko the orca that played Willy in the movie from the Mexican amusement park where he performed. Here Keiko is being prepared to be released into the wild in 1998. In 2002 Keiko spent five weeks journeying across the Atlantic to Norway. He wasn't quite ready to be independent finding companionship among the Norwegian fishermen and children. He died in December 2003 most likely from pneumonia. The nation's attention turned once again to the plight of captive orcas in February 2010 when SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by a male killer whale Tilikum. Tilikum had been involved in the deaths of two other humans prior to the incident including a trainer in 1991 in Canada and a man who slipped into the orca tank at SeaWorld Orlando in 1999. Tilikum returned to performing at SeaWorld Orlando a year after Brancheau's death. Trainers were no longer allowed in the water with the killer whales after OSHA the federal agency that regulates workplace safety cited SeaWorld of Florida Inc. for willfully endangering employees by not taking proper safety precautions. A judge upheld the ruling but SeaWorld is appealing. Killer whale Tilikum watches as SeaWorld Orlando trainers take a break during a training session in March 2011. In an effort to unravel what happened between the 12 000 pound Tilikum and the late Dawn Brancheau filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite made Blackfish which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. The film raises a number of questions not the least of which being whether killer whales have any place in theme parks. A male killer whale Bingo is transported to the Nagoya Port Aquarium in Japan in December 2011 after the death of the aquarium's only other orca. Marine animal activists say the transfers of orcas between marine parks are unhealthy for these mammals because of the stress and trauma. This female killer whale Morgan was taken in by a Dutch dolphinarium after being found starving in the shallow waters of the North Sea off the Netherlands coast. She is now performing at Loro Parque in Spain's Canary Islands despite an agreement that she would be released into the wild after her rehabilitation. Animal rights activists have mounted a legal challenge for her release. Today there are 45 captive orcas performing at about 10 parks across the world most of them born in captivity. Here orcas perform at the Marineland aquatic park in Antibes in southeastern France. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Editor's note Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor at large covering family career and life. Read her other columns and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter. Post your thoughts on CNN's live blog or tweet with the hashtag blackfish.

(CNN) The family trip to San Diego that we've been discussing in part to visit SeaWorld with the kids might be off indefinitely. I relayed that news to my husband (he wasn't pleased) after watching the stirring documentary Blackfish which will be showcased on CNN at 9 p.m. ET Thursday.

The film tells the story of the killing in 2010 of experienced SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau by a 12 000 pound orca.

You might be surprised to find out that the director of Blackfish Gabriela Cowperthwaite once would routinely take her kids to shows at SeaWorld in San Diego. That was the case until that day nearly four years ago when the whale Brancheau trained and performed with in Orlando pulled her underwater.

The death led Cowperthwaite to make a documentary raising questions about the safety and humaneness of keeping killer whales in captivity over the past 39 years.

READ Cowperthwaite explains her motivation

The film includes interviews with a number of former SeaWorld trainers including one who said he would never take his child to SeaWorld.

I am not at all interested in having my daughter who is 3 and a half grow up thinking that it's normalized to have these intelligent highly evolved animals in concrete pools said John Jett a former SeaWorld trainer who said he grew increasingly concerned about the stressful conditions the animals were living under at SeaWorld. 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.

READ A chilling documentary on captive killer whales

In conversations with parents across the country most of whom had not seen the film and many of whom contribute to the parenting and lifestyle site Babble.com I found strong differences of opinion about keeping animals in captivity and about taking kids to SeaWorld as well as to zoos circuses and aquariums.

Parents weigh benefits and costs of captivity

Janis Brett Elspas of Los Angeles who describes herself as a lifelong animal lover took her four kids 16 year old triplets and a 17 year old to SeaWorld every chance she could from the time they were very little.

Since I love nature I really wanted them to be exposed to that early the host of the blog Mommy Blog Expert and social media strategist said in an interview.

At a time when some species of whale are on the endangered list Elspas believes places such as SeaWorld provide crucial education to children about whales.

We need to educate children about why these whales are so important why they're so beautiful what their unique characteristics are because these kids are also going to be the world's future marine biologists she said.

READ Working with killer whales is a calculated risk trainers say

'Blackfish' looks at whales in captivity

Joanna Mazewski a mom of two who grew up in Orlando Florida wholeheartedly agrees.

History of killer whale capture

If we don't give our children the opportunity to go visit them how else would they learn about these animals said Mazewski who is a Babble.com contributor. It's a hands on experience and a hands on opportunity too.

The truth behind orcas in captivity

On the other side are moms such as Pilar Clark who believes parents should not take their kids to SeaWorld circuses or other places where animals are made to perform for the enjoyment of humans.

At a very young age Clark was deeply affected by animals in captivity begging her parents to take her home early after trips to the circus and SeaWorld.

I still have a photo of myself posing awkwardly in front of a lion standing on top of an elephant and that bothered me so much the mom of two blogger and Babble.com contributor said.

I didn't really want to see the wild animals being made to do what people wanted them to do.

Explaining SeaWorld position to kids other parents

Clark's kids 4 and 7 have no issue with the family position of No SeaWorld circuses and aquariums but other parents are a different story. An awkward conversation usually ensues when other families invite Clark and her kids along to an animal park or circus.

People are taken aback when you say 'You know what I don't really agree with circuses or believe in them so we'll pass ' Clark said. That always seems to shock people a little bit at least I've found.

READ SeaWorld video causes uproar online

Sheri Silver and her family have made a 180 degree shift in terms of their feelings about places such as SeaWorld. Silver's daughter now 22 was obsessed with sharks and marine life in general beginning at 3 and dreamed of swimming with dolphins.

So at 10 her parents took her to SeaWorld to swim with the dolphins and then at 16 she swam with them again in the Bahamas. But during her college years she saw the documentary film The Cove which explores the killing of dolphins and porpoises in Japan. Everything changed.

She was devastated by what she learned said Silver a mom of three blogger and food writer for Babble.com. She made every member of our family watch it ... and those issues became very much on our radar to the point where we stopped going to aquariums.

Once Blackfish came out they immediately went to see it and were deeply moved.

SeaWorld Trainer on Recent Controversy

There's not only no kind way no humane way to keep (whales) in captivity. It is traumatizing to them Silver said. Once you know it you can't ... unknow it and go with any kind of open mind or heart.

Video shows orca trainer's close call

SeaWorld's conservation efforts

Elspas the Los Angeles mom of four says she feels bad when whales are captured or born into captivity but she says they are not safe in nature either citing how some countries still permit their slaughter.

Places such as SeaWorld she says are one of the few ways to preserve and protect each species of whale from extinction ultimately.

I think a lot of the anti whale in captivity people are thinking that people are using them for entertainment value and for their own selfish purposes but I think it's really important from the educational aspect.

READ Is it time for America to close its zoos

Also missing from the discussion said Orlando native Mazewski are the conservation efforts by SeaWorld which include taking in injured birds and animals and having staffers travel to beaches to recover stranded animals.

There is a controversy said Mazewski. At the same time they are doing a lot of good to save a lot of animals that would be in danger or ... wouldn't survive in their natural habitats.

READ SeaWorld says 'Blackfish' ignores conservation research benefits

On the fence

Somewhere in the middle are parents such as Alice Gomstyn who participated in coverage of the SeaWorld 2010 death during her time as a Web producer for ABC News.

Gomstyn says she has to balance her concerns about animals in captivity with how certain places help endangered species continue to survive. She's waiting until her two children 11 months and 3 years old get a bit older to decide whether animal parks are a potential family destination.

It's easy to say 'Well I'm not going to visit any of these places' she said. But when you have a child and you see his face light up at the sight of a four legged furry thing it's hard to deny him that joy.

Gomstyn who is now a Babble.com contributor also wonders what the alternatives would be if there were no SeaWorlds zoos and aquariums since most families can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on an African safari or on a whale watching expedition.

I think (kids') universes of animals or at least live animals would be limited to the squirrels cats and dogs in the neighborhood which I think would be too bad for them because kids these days in general have a lot less exposure to wild animals than they did years ago Gomstyn said. And I think they are missing out because of that.

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