the one expert, who'd been on dozens of trips to see orcas in the wild, said he was always stunned by their presence. he was also fearful of them. he admired whales but knew to keep his distance.

we *know* what happens to whales in captivity -- we fuck them up. again, I bring up the particular scene of the trainer being dunked at what amounted to timed intervals of his lung capacity -- orcas could kill the trainers at their leisure. if they solely wanted to kill humans, you'd never be able to put a trainer in the water. but instead they suffer through a lifetime of belittling confinement until they are agitated into doing so.

applying those parameters to the wild is kind of baseless. sure, if we go swimming next to a family of orcas every day and withhold them from hunting until they jump and touch a ball, I'm guessing there will be casualties eventually.

>I'm sure fucking the orca's life up didn't HELP, clearly. I'm
>just not sure interacting with wild orcas daily in the water
>for twenty years wouldn't also result in three total deaths.
>They're fucking big, and ultimately they know they are in
>control once we are in the water with them.

well...exactly. a point the film makes itself: love the whales, see the whales, but respect the whales, because they're as smart as you and more powerful than you can imagine. capturing their young and putting them in a swimming pool is the opposite of such respect.