In 2013 HBO Films released a documentary entitled Blackfish, revealing the truth about the treatment or mistreatment of orcas otherwise called killer whales.
Up to that time, I was a fan of the theme parks that featured orcas, because as an animal lover, I appreciated seeing their power and grace as they swam and rose up out of the water in such a graceful and powerful way. Add to it, a human trainer perched precariously on their nose as they come up out of the deep, and then see both dive back into the water in synchrony, like a kind of water ballet; to an undiscerning eye it is exciting to watch.

The performances certainly thrill the audience, in part because of the potential danger that the trainer is in by swimming with such a large beast and a carnivorous and efficient killer. But also to see what appears to be an amazing relationship of mutual trust between the animal and the trainer. Blackfish removed the illusion of orcas being pleased to live among humans, happy to do their bidding for some food to be tossed to them, when everything in their nature tells them to hunt their food and to swim the vastness of the oceans unimpeded by concrete walls, and Plexiglas. In fact, orcas in the custody of sea parks live completely unnatural lives that have driven them to suicidal actions, depression, and even to retaliate on their captors.

The death of a veteran trainer at Seaworld, Orlando was the focus of the documentary, but not the only incidence of attacks by these creatures who were intended to swim the oceans freely. Blackfish gives accounts of three people killed by one orca alone. There are also accounts of other attacks on employees of the sea parks, in particular, SeaWorld, by the orcas that were very nearly fatal. Blackfish showed excerpts of a video of a trainer grabbed by the foot and held by a female orca for several minutes at SeaWorld in San Diego, back in 2006 during a performance at the Park. The account was given in evidence, in a suit against SeaWorld, in particular. The deaths of trainers and attacks like this one all led to OSHA stepping in and banning the trainers from getting into the pools with the orcas during their shows.

In Modern Hebrew the word “Leviathan” is translated as whale, the sea monster of the Old Testament. Other definitions have been applied to the same word, but it assuredly includes whales, the large creatures who swim the oceans. While God gave man dominion over the beasts on land, He makes it clear that man was not intended to subdue or capture the leviathan to exploit, in a circus environment, as the Sea Parks currently do. This quote from the Hebrew Old Testament from Job is enlightening.

“Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?
Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life?
Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls?
Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.” Job 41:1-9

Leviathan is only subject to God in His order of things. But this world has grown so perverse that men do not even consider that God does have a master design for every form of life. One cannot help but conjure up the image of Moby Dick from the book or even the film of the great white whale with so many spears and ropes stuck in his flesh and a long list of victims from the battles he has waged against a prideful arrogant man. In this story, the whale defeats man, only to rise again for the next battle with the evil Ahab lashed to his back.

All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby-Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it. – Quote from Moby Dick by Herman Melville

All the bad press and the backlash over the documentary has brought SeaWorld, in particular under scrutiny by the press and animal rights activists. People are refusing to visit the parks now in greater numbers and entertainers have canceled shows booked there, in light of the accusations made in Blackfish and from other investigative reports by the media. In response, SeaWorld has begun an ad campaign trying to discredit the information brought to light by the film and touting their efforts to promote preservation and conservation of wildlife. Their most recent action was to step in and save birds and sea lions from the recent oil spill off the coast of California. However, their ad campaign has done little to stem the tide of their falling stock prices and their declining admission to the theme parks. Men of great pride and obstinacy managed to work together in an unholy conspiracy to invent ways to subdue the magnificent beasts in order to do all the things God said not to do with leviathan. In the 1800s they harvested whales for oil, food, and even perfume. Today they are captured for no other reason than for entertainment venues, in the spirit of Ancient Rome. A large graceful sea creature is treated like a pet, put into what amounts to fishbowls, only to treat him like a domesticated animal, made to beg for food. These creatures, although intelligent, are born predators and efficient killers. Orcas can overcome killer sharks for food, they are so expert in their abilities. It is completely unnatural to relegate these creatures to be fed in comparatively small pools when they are designed to hunt for their food over a very vast area.

Other parks of their ilk began to suffer decline even before the documentary. Marineland in Florida closed some years ago and is now just a memory. The sister park of the same name in Niagara Falls, Ontario is still open but in a state of disrepair and the only remaining orca swims around in a pool alone, nothing to do but wait to be fed. Orcas are social creatures that travel in pods and do not live a solitary life in the wild.

The pitiful whale at Marineland is living what amounts to a nursing home type of life like many elderly people do today. People tend to its physical needs but the creature is probably waiting to die, as it has nothing to do and no one to interact with it. They basically used the female as a breeder and once the last baby was sold, she was left alone. They do not have whale shows anymore so she does not even have human interaction except for feeding and medical intervention.

I took my own children to that park one summer back in the 80s and my daughter talked about the whale show for weeks after we visited she was so excited about it. Compared to later shows at SeaWorld, it was not real sophisticated but it still entertained us. Upon reading about the present state of the park, I realized Marineland was really used as a breeding station for orcas in captivity, so they would not have to go to Iceland to purchase them from the wild harvest.

Currently, one of the defenses that SeaWorld is presently making is that they have not taken orcas from the wild since the 80s. However, even if that is true, they are using the captive orcas in unnatural breeding techniques to keep their pools filled and to even supply other parks around the world. These are not cattle or animals given to man to utilize for food as God ordained. These are wild creatures forced into a completely unnatural environment and way of life. This has brought about unnatural and even psychotic behavior in the whales, resulting in suicidal actions (some successful) and aggressive behaviors toward their human captors. In order to manage the beasts better, trainers administer drugs to keep them subdued. This and other psychological practices used like negative and positive reinforcement actions work to keep the animals under the control of the handlers, but it has only served to make the animals imbalanced and angry when added to their depressed state at living a wholly unnatural life. The whales are forced to live in groups assigned to them by the parks, not in familial pods that orcas naturally live in. SeaWorld and other parks like it should not be surprised that the orcas have attacked their handlers. It is the only way they can prove who they really are in a natural way. It should not surprise anyone that orcas can kill on a whim because that is what they were created to do, thus the name “Killer Whale”.

The whole circus environment is born out of the spirit of Ancient Rome, as in the days of the Coliseum where captive beasts were put on display before ravenous crowds hungry to be entertained. However, Rome was at least honest enough to allow the lions and tigers and other wild animals do what came natural for them, they were allowed to hunt and kill in the arena, even if they did have to do battle with men. Pretending like they keep the whales out of a deep love for them and a desire to preserve their species and keep them safe is so dishonest by SeaWorld. The whales thrill and amaze crowds who are willing to pay 100.00 per ticket to see them perform. SeaWorld does it because it is a huge moneymaker and has been for decades. The documentary Blackfish let the cat out of the bag, about the reality that this is all about huge profits and greed at the expense of the wildlife they keep and force to perform. It is all very antichrist in spirit. This is not new, Nimrod trained leopards to hunt for him, and he was the first in our antichrist profiles through the ages. Antichrist is the spirit of these kinds of entertainment venues, like the Ancient Roman Circus, and SeaWorld and theme parks like it are the worst of their kind in the exploitation of wildlife for huge profit.

The trainers are not allowed to get into the water to perform at present, because OSHA shut that feature of the shows down after the death of Dawn Brancheau, the trainer killed by Tilikum the whale. She was his third human victim and now he receives special handling at the Orlando Park. Recently, SeaWorld sought an appeal to the ruling, keeping the trainers out of the pool with the whales but was denied after investigation found several safety violations at the parks. As it stands, the trainers stand on the sidelines signaling the whales to do the activities they have been trained to do. All this while a Jumbotron plays a soundtrack and video all about SeaWorld and its commitment to the preservation and future of these wonderful creatures and all wildlife for their benefit and ours.

SeaWorld promotes that man and wildlife are all in this battle together and are one. As I watched the video of the current whale show from their web site, it reminded me of a very ecumenical church service from one of the mega-churches. It was all in the spirit of man and beast getting together to be of one accord, as the very Antichrist will promote and insist upon with men when he arrives on the scene. Do not be deceived, SeaWorld and others like them are already hard at work promoting the antichrist agenda but would have you believe that they are in business because they love the whales and want to share them with mankind for years to come because they also love us. This is the method the very Antichrist will employ when he emerges; how much he loves you and cares for you. Do not be deceived. He wants power to control the world and the worship of everyone in it. SeaWorld wants your money and your admiration for their good works at preserving the orcas and other marine life forms. In reality, they have defied God and opposed the true order of things and made a mockery of His creation in the spirit of antichrist. In so doing, they have exploited the marine life they claim to love and seek to protect.