History NightmareFuel / Blackfish

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Ride/SeaWorld is known for its general aquatic theme, inviting atmosphere, and incredible shows, and overall presents itself with an aura of positivity. But ''{{Film/Blackfish}}'' tears down that positive image, and showcases the unethical practices the company commited. So it goes without saying that this documentary has a crapton of NightmareFuel, even in the trailers!

And to remind you, all the events onscreen ''actually happened''.

* In the trailer alone, we hear a couple of phone calls from [=SeaWorld=] staff to local police. One call tells how Tilikum (an infamous orca who is the main topic of the documentary, but we'll get to more of him later) has trapped a trainer underwater. The second call states that Tilikum hasn't just drowned a trainer, but ''eaten'' her. While this wasn't actually the case (he severed her arm but it was retrieved) the person making the call believed it to be, and the fact that it was ''severed at all'' is horrifying enough.
* The [[http://kittysneezes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/164428_4955758486757_1866041874_n.jpg poster]] for the film is plenty scary, showing an orca facing front on a black background. The only color bright enough to see is the large white patches that resemble eyes at the front of his head.
** All that there is present is the orca, the film's title, the Sundance Official Selection emblem, and "coming soon". Nothing more, nothing less.

* [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Tilikum]] himself is a frightening film subject. When he was brought to [=SeaWorld=], he was twice the size of the other whales at the time. As he grew up, he was also quite well known for injuring trainers. The documentary covers what happens when one accident became ''fatal''.
* Much of the footage of Tilikum is an unfiltered horror, showing how he injured trainers and eventually killed Dawn Brancheau (Senior Trainer at [=SeaWorld=] for years).
** The fact that [[NothingisScarier we don't see the actual footage of Tilikum attacking Dawn]], only of the events leading up to it.
* The autopsy of the guy who climbed into Tilikum's tank after hours. When they were able to find him the next day, he was slung over Tilikum's back, with multiple wounds all over his body, [[GroinAttack with his genitals having been ripped off]]. [[FridgeHorror They weren't able to tell if his wounds were pre or post-mortem]].
* The question about how [[GoMadFromTheIsolation psychotic a human would be if]] [[ArmorPiercingQuestion kept in a bathtub for twenty years]]. It's a good ArmorPiercingQuestion regarding the comparison to the very-intelligent orcas, and one of the main topics of discussion.
* The detail to which Dawn Brancheau's body was savaged, and also Alexis Martinez from Loro Parque who was rammed to death by Keto is described by his mother and fiance as appearing as though his chest exploded. To make matters worse, when the fiance received the initial phone call, she was told "He's fine."
** To make it even worse, Alex was killed two months before Dawn.
* Tilikum's… erm… [[GroinAttack genitals]].
** Even worse is the context of the genitals scene. It's suggested that Tilikum is only being kept as a sperm bank to breed other captive females in parks over the world. [[FridgeHorror If Tilikum's issues are a mental illness]], the parks could be breeding [[FromBadToWorse more and more]] mentally unstable orcas like him.
* Ken Peter's incident with Kasatka in 2006 had him being dragged down to the bottom of the tank ''twice''. Possibly the only reason he survived was that he was an experienced scuba diver. Though, that's not all. The other trainers put a net out. When the whale finally lets go, Ken "swims like a demon" to get out of the tank. Then the whale ''goes over the net.'' Ken manages to get to safety though, albeit with damaged feet.
** The fact that Kasatka was actually ''torturing'' her trainer, most likely out of anger that her infant had been recently relocated. The cold, calculating way she repeatedly drags him under, only bringing him back up for air so that she can ''keep doing it'', [[ItCanThink shows that she knew exactly how long Ken could survive underwater]]. Had she not let go for a moment, she probably would have continued doing this until Ken eventually died from extreme stress and shock.
** It's especially scary if the viewer knows that orcas, at least in the wild, typically won't try to go over nets even when they easily can (hence why people trying to catch orcas in the wild can trap a pod by surrounding it with a net).
** The way he quickly breathes before being dragged back into the water again by the orca. What's scary is that Ken ''knew'' that he would likely be dragged under for the third time and was aware that he couldn't do anything about it but wait for the right time to escape.
* The bloody scratches Tilikum gets from being bullied by the female whales. Seeing the footage, knowing it's real, makes it hard to stomach.
** Speaking of those bloody scratches, that's known as "rakes" and it occurs when orcas scrape at each other with ''their teeth''. Footage in the film shows one of the [=SeaWorld=] orcas going onto the slideout with a particularly nasty rake mark that is just ''gushing'' blood.
* The bloody battle between Kandu V and Corky is a high-octane mix of this and {{Tearjerker}}. The two orcas get into a tussle during a show. Kandu V ''rams'' Corky only to sever an artery in her jaw when she misfires and ends up hitting the far wall of the tank. She bled out for ''45 minutes'' and footage of this exists, with blood spouting from Kandu V's blowhole and ending with Kandu V lifeless in the tank with her baby Orkid swimming around her. Footage [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5jo7d4ENE here]].
* The film of the Tamaree who is dragged into a tank by Orkid and Splash and only saved from certain death when another trainer thinks to let in Kasatka (the dominant female) into the enclosure is terrifying.
** Tamaree's arm as she's led out of the water, bent at a spine-chilling angle.
* The use of actual footage, be it of Tilikum's behaviour, news reactions, [=SeaWorld=] capture facilities... it's disturbing because you know it's ''real''.
* John Sillick is the guy who is crushed between two whales and winds up hospitalized and paralyzed. What makes it worse is that from the video, it's ambiguous whether the whale decided to be aggressive or just jumped at the wrong time. Even when the whale's not actively trying to hurt you, you could still end up paralyzed from it ''missing its cue''.
* The death of Keltie Byrne. The 20-year-old only had a part-time job at Sealand park and was intending to keep swimming competitively. She ended up drowning due to the whales (specifically Tilikum) pulling her underwater despite her attempts to escape, and the eyewitness accounts make it all the more horrifying: the reason she couldn't get enough air to stay alive underwater was because ''she was screaming for help while she was above water'' and at one point one heard her say, "I don't want to die!" The other workers couldn't save her because the whales would drag her away whenever she tried to swim for a life preserver. And what lead to this horrifying situation? She simply slipped after feeding the whales and was dragged away as she was trying to get out.
* Alexis Martinez's death. His fiance describes that she doesn't know what happened, but she knows it wasn't an accident because when she and his mother came to see his body, his "chest was burst open". Alexis the night before said that he was exhausted all the time because he had to stay fit to train the whales and he could die at any time. Well, he was right.
* The fact that the details of the deaths and injuries of the trainers were allegedly covered up by [=SeaWorld=] so that the trainers would be responsible, not [=SeaWorld=] itself for its policies. This is to the point where officials came out ''directly saying'' that the trainers were at fault for the incidents, at one point stating that Brancheau herself would agree that she would be at fault. Imagine if the blame for your death was coldly placed on you so that a corporation wouldn't have to make changes to abusive policies and discredit anyone who stated that you weren't to blame.
* The fact that all of this is happening because [[HumansAreBastards humans choose to keep sapient animals]], animals that are self-aware, with languages, intelligence and emotions probably at least on par with humans, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters in swimming pools for entertainment]].
* The amount of ItCanThink involved in the whales' actions (with special mention to the pod that, after being robbed of their calves once, planned an entire strategy to fool the humans wanting to steal their calves, and when that failed stayed watching helplessly and calling for the calves as they were being taken away). Like the former catcher says, it is impossible to watch that and not think that you are ripping a small child from his mother's arms, with the added KickTheDog in the fact that the whale can't know why her calf is being taken away and what will happen to it. The fact that they keep calling for them [[UncertainDoom after days]] is proof that it would be less traumatic for them if they saw their calves being killed.
** The former catcher also outlines that three calves died from the stress of capture. They were told to cut the bodies open, fill them with rocks, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean with anchors tied to their tails. ''Jesus Christ''...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackfishdogwoofdocumentary10.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Enjoy the rest of your day at [=SeaWorld=]!"]]

* John Sillick is the guy who gets crushed between two whales and winds up hospitalized and paralyzed. What makes it worse is that from the video, it's ambiguous whether the whale decided to be aggressive or just jumped at the wrong time. Even when the whale's not actively trying to hurt you, you could still end up paralyzed from it ''missing its cue''.

* The film of the Tamaree who is dragged into a tank by Orkid & Splash and only saved from certain death when another trainer thinks to let in Kasatka (the dominant female) into the enclosure is terrifying.

For a documentary about the unethical practices done by Ride/SeaWorld, ''Blackfish'' has a crapton of NightmareFuel, even in the trailers! And to remind you, all the events onscreen ''actually happened''.

* In the trailer alone, we hear a couple of phone calls from [=SeaWorld=] staff to local police. One call tells how Tilikum (the orca who is the focus of the documentary) has trapped a trainer underwater. The second call states that Tilikum hasn't just drowned a trainer, but ''eaten'' her. While this wasn't actually the case (he severed her arm but it was retrieved) the person making the call believed it to be, and the fact that it was severed at all is horrifying enough.
* The [[http://kittysneezes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/164428_4955758486757_1866041874_n.jpg poster]] for the film is plenty scary, showing an orca facing front on a black background. The only color bright enough to see being the large white patches that resemble eyes at the front of his head.
** All that there is is the orca, the film's title, the Sundance Official Selection emblem, and "coming soon". Nothing more, nothing less.
* The opening credits. We see whales swimming with trainers, with the 911 calls from various parks about whales attacking trainers plays over it.
* [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Tilikum]] himself is a frightening film subject. When he was brought to [=SeaWorld=], he was twice the size of the other whales at the time. As he grew up, he was also quite well known for injuring trainers. The documentary covers what happens when he finally ''killed'' them.

* The question about how [[GoMadFromTheIsolation psychotic a human would be if]] [[ArmorPiercingQuestion kept in a bathtub for twenty years]]. It's a good ArmorPiercingQuestion regarding the comparison to the very-intelligent orcas.

** Even worse is the context of the genitals scene. It's suggested that Tilikum is only being kept as a sperm bank to breed other captive females in parks over the world. [[FridgeHorror If Tilikum's issues are a mental illness]], the parks could be breeding [[FromBadToWorse more and more]] unstable orcas like him.
* Ken Peter's incident with Kasatka in 2006 has him being dragged down to the bottom of the tank twice. Possibly the only reason he survived was because he was an experienced scuba diver. Though, that's not all. The other trainers put a net out. When the whale finally let go, Ken "swims like a demon" to get out of the tank. Then the whale ''goes over the net.'' Ken manages to get to safety though, albeit with damaged feet.
** The fact that Kasatka was actually ''torturing'' her trainer, most likely out of anger that her infant had be recently relocated. The cold, calculating way she repeatedly drags him under, only bringing him back up for air so that she can ''keep doing it'', [[ItCanThink shows that she knew exactly how long Ken could survive underwater]]. Had she not let go for a moment, she probably would have continued doing this until Ken eventually died from extreme stress and shock.

** The way he quickly breathes before being dragged back into the water again by the orca. What's scary is that Ken ''knew'' that he was likely going to be dragged under for a third time and was aware that he couldn't do anything about it but wait for the right time to escape.
* The bloody scratches Tilikum gets from being bullied by the female whales. Seeing the footage, knowing its real, makes it hard to stomach.

* The bloody battle between Kandu V and Corky. The two orcas get into a tussle during a show. Kandu V ''rams'' Corky only to sever an artery in her jaw when she misfires and ends up hitting the far wall of the tank. She bled out for ''45 minutes'' and footage of this exists, with blood spouting from Kandu V's blowhole and finally ending with Kandu V lifeless in the tank with her baby Orkid swimming around her. Footage [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5jo7d4ENE here]].

* The use of actual footage, be it of Tilikum's behavior, news reactions, [=SeaWorld=] capture facilities... it's disturbing because you know it's ''real''.

* The death of Keltie Byrne. The 20-year-old only had a part-time job at the Sealand park and was intending to keep swimming competitively. She ended up drowning due to the whales (specifically Tilikum) pulling her underwater despite her attempts to escape, and the eyewitness accounts make it all the more horrifying: the reason she couldn't get enough air to stay alive underwater was because ''she was screaming for help while she was above water'' and at one point one heard her say, "I don't want to die!" The other workers couldn't save her because the whales would drag her away whenever she tried to swim for a life preserver. And what lead to this horrifying situation? She simply slipped after feeding the whales and was dragged away as she was trying to get out.

* The fact that the details of the deaths and injuries of the trainers were allegedly covered up by [=SeaWorld=] so that the trainers would be responsible, not [=SeaWorld=] itself for its policies. This is to the point where officials came out ''directly saying'' that the trainers were at fault for the incidents, at one point stating that Brancheau herself would agree that she would be at fault. Imagine if the blame of your death was coldly placed on you so that a corporation wouldn't have to make changes to abusive policies and discrediting anyone who stated that you weren't to blame.
* The fact that all of this is happening because humans choose to keep sapient animals, animals that are self-aware, with languages, intelligence and emotions probably at least on par with a humans, in swimming pools for entertainment.
* The amount of ItCanThink involved in the whales actions (with special mention to the pod that, after being robbed of their calves once, planned an entire strategy to fool the humans wanting to steal their calves, and when that failed stayed watching helplessly and calling for the calves as they were being taken away). Like the former catcher says, it is impossible to watch that and not think that you are ripping a small child from his mother's arms, with the added KickTheDog in the fact that the whale can't know why her calf is being taken away and what will happen to it. The fact that they keep calling for them [[UncertainDoom after days]] is proof that it would be less traumatic for them if they saw their calves being killed.
** The former catcher also outlines that three calves died from the stress of capture. They were told to cut the bodies open, fill them with rocks, and sink them to the bottom of the ocean with anchors tied to their tails. Brrrr.

For a documentary about Ride/SeaWorld, this film has a crapton of NightmareFuel, even in the trailers! The main reason is that the horrific incidents all actually happened in real life.

* Much of the footage of Tilikum is Nightmare Fuel, showing how he injured trainers and eventually killed Dawn Brancheau (Senior Trainer at [=SeaWorld=] for years).

* The autopsy of the guy who climbed into Tilikum's tank after hours. When they found him, he was slung over Tilikum's back, with multiple wounds all over his body, with his genitals having been torn off. [[FridgeHorror They weren't able to tell if his wounds were pre or post-mortem]].
* The question about how [[GoMadFromTheIsolation psychotic a human would be if kept in a bathtub for twenty years]], since it is being used as comparison to the very-intelligent orcas.
* The detail to which Dawn Brancheau's body was savaged, and also Alexis Martinez from Loro Parque who was rammed to death by Keto is described by his mother and fiance as appearing as though his chest exploded. To make matters worse, when the fiance recieved the initial phone call, she was told "He's fine."

** Even worse is the context of the genitals scene. It's suggested that Tilikum is only being kept as a sperm bank to breed other captive females in parks over the world. If Tilikum's issues are a mental illness, the parks could be breeding [[FromBadToWorse more and more]] unstable orcas like him.

* The bloody scratches Tilikum gets from being bullied by the female whales.
** Speaking of those bloody scratches, they are called "rakes" and happen when orcas scrape at each other with ''their teeth''. Footage in the film shows one of the [=SeaWorld=] orcas going onto the slideout with a particularly nasty rake mark that is just ''gushing'' blood.

* The detail to which Dawn Brancheau's body was savaged, and also Alexis Martinez from Loro Parque who was rammed to death by Keto is described by his mother and fiance as appearing as though his chest exploded. To make matters worse, when the fiance recieved the initial phone, she was told "He's fine."

** The fact that we don't see the actual footage of Tilikum attacking Dawn, only of the events leading up to it.