Review of “Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Behind Blackfish” by John Hargrove with Howard Chua-Eoan, Palgrave MacMillan, 264 pp.
By Mark J. Palmer
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute
www.DolphinProject.org
On its website, the marine park conglomerate SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment says that it is a “leading theme park and entertainment company that blends imagination with nature.” Parse the sentence, and you’ll see that this is little more than marketing-speak for saying that the company offers its visitors a kind of fantasy. Captive marine mammals frolicking and doing tricks for crowds of human — it’s a make-believe vision of what the ocean might look if it were designed by Walt Disney.
Underneath the water surface, however, is a much darker reality, one characterized by routine suffering and occasional bursts of lethal violence. At least, so says John Hargrove. He is no ““animal rights extremist” (as SeaWorld recently called my colleagues and I at the International Marine Mammal Project). Rather, he is a product of SeaWorld itself, someone who trained there and spent 14 years performing with orcas (AKA “killer whales”). And what he has to say about SeaWorld is not at all flattering to the company.
(Full disclosure: I am working with Earth Island Institute to consult on a recent lawsuit filed against SeaWorld for false advertising and violation of consumer protection laws in California.)
Hargrove’s new book, "Beneath the Surface", is a quick read, but not an easy one. Orcas kept in small concrete tanks are not “happy,” but often bored and sometimes badly stressed. They are heavily medicated with antibiotics and sometimes antidepressants. They die at higher rates than do orcas in the wild. They get sick from diseases they would never encounter in the wild. And they can turn on their trainers, sometimes with lethal results.
Hargrove knew little of this coming in. SeaWorld chooses its trainers for their swimming abilities and their good looks. Hargrove details how a trainer has to learn to work with a huge marine mammal that can easily crush or swallow a person. Orcas are also extremely intelligent, often playful and very attentive to their trainers. But their good will has limits.
Hargrove went along with this for years. He and his fellow trainers knew that if they were not careful, they could be switched to some other job at the park other than training their beloved orcas. But over time his concerns for the orcas’ well being and his resentments against SeaWorld built up. Far from being a happy family, he came to believe that SeaWorld was a corporation that viewed orcas and trainers as mere commodities for making money.
Then two trainers were killed by trained orcas. On Christmas Eve 2009, orca trainer Alexis Martinez was killed at Loro Parque, a marine park in the Canary Islands that houses several SeaWorld orcas and has business dealings with SeaWorld. An orca named Keto grabbed Martinez from behind and held him underwater and crushed him. Just two months later, Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, was dragged underwater and nearly dismembered by the orca Tilikum, who had been involved in two other incidents in which people died. SeaWorld publicly blamed the trainers and classified the gruesome deaths as “drowning.”
Unlike the Loro Parque incident, SeaWorld could not cover up the Brancheau killing. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined SeaWorld and prohibited SeaWorld trainers from entering the water with orcas due to the danger; SeaWorld fought the order in court, but eventually lost and accepted the decision.
Eventually, Hargrove decided to leave SeaWorld, and shortly after was interviewed for the documentary film "Blackfish", a chilling indictment of SeaWorld’s treatment of orcas. Hargrove’s book is, above all, fair and honest. He praises SeaWorld and its staff in cases in which he thinks the organization conducts business in the right way. He is particularly protective of his fellow trainers, many of whom were once his friends but no longer talk to him.
At the same time, Hargrove explodes many of the false claims SeaWorld makes. SeaWorld claims, for example, that the amusement parks never separate mother orcas from their calves. Hargrove says he is personally aware of at least 19 times in when orcas calves and mothers were separated, only two of which were due to medical necessity.
Orcas are highly intelligent, family oriented, and wide-ranging animals that simply do not belong in the artificial environment of SeaWorld tanks, despite all the smiling trainers, the snappy music, the veterinary care. Along with "Blackfish" and David Kirby’s book, "Death at SeaWorld," Hargrove’s book has blown a hole in SeaWorld’s PR veneer. Thanks to this book, SeaWorld’s abusive practices are floating on the surface for all to see.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the authors
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
This item: Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish
$13.54
Get it as soon as Monday, Nov 18
In Stock
+
$13.29
Get it as soon as Monday, Nov 18
In Stock
+
$18.69
Get it as soon as Monday, Nov 18
Only 3 left in stock (more on the way).
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
John burst the bubble of a glamorous fantasy...
I read John's book, with great interest, but have struggled with writing a review. It is excellent and a great, easy read. As someone who lives in the Central Florida area on the east coast, I get to spend a lot of time watching wild mammals swim free, as I believe God intended, in the waters off shore. I also am bombarded with SeaWorld propaganda in the news and commercials. To me, SeaWorld Parks and SeaWorld Rescue are two different entities. So I wasn't too sure what to expect from the book, Beneath The Surface.John Hargrove has done a great job of not only taking me Beneath The Surface, but also behind the scenes and given such a clear picture of what his life was like as an orca trainer, so that any layman can understand. I just didn't know. From the outside there are many things that make you wonder, but wonder no more. John answers all the questions and then some.I am very thankful John wrote this book and wish him the very best as he goes forward as an advocate for the ocras.
Top reviews from other countries
Jey's Book Lines
äußerst emotionale Lektüre, große Inspirationsquelle, sehr persönlich geschrieben
Reviewed in Germany on January 13, 2022
Vincenzo Cuccia
Una descrizione accurata di ciò che avveniva nei famosi (famigerati) parchi acquatici
Reviewed in Italy on August 17, 2019Cliente Amazon
gran complemento del documental Blackfish
Reviewed in Spain on January 10, 2017