95. The Captive (SeaWorld)
Added 2023-05-21 18:07:29 +0000 UTCTragedy at a marine animal amusement park illuminates the issues surrounding keeping killer whales in captivity.
Prelude: A campaign to save Keiko, the orca whale star of 'Free Willy.'
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Original music for Swindled is written and performed by Trevor Howard (Deformr).
Comments
Currently available on Netflix
Lauren Griswell
2024-10-25 16:53:10 +0000 UTC“Swim with me…” I’ve listened to this episode so many times. It’s incredible. Thank you.
Lex
2024-03-17 09:16:43 +0000 UTCIs one was pretty tough to get through ngl
Vino Galan
2024-02-06 16:18:35 +0000 UTCSo incredibly sad! These poor whales 😞
Haley Ashton
2024-01-09 19:45:33 +0000 UTCImagine spending 40 years in a pool, no friends, Hardly any room to swim around, no stimulation from the natural environment, you’re just stuck there, having to float in a budget arse pool, and going crazy… and waiting 40 miserable years until death frees you from the suffering. An innocent soul doesn’t even know why it’s happening, just feels it, drag on day after day. Treating anyone or creature like that is so wrong and unbearably sad.to think about. 40 fuken years!!!
Brendan Woodford-Robinson
2023-08-12 12:08:50 +0000 UTCFuck SeaWorld.
Bryant Edwards
2023-06-08 14:10:51 +0000 UTCDespicable, I was not aware of this sad situation, although, all animals in captivity must be banging their heads against the wall, most of them, less harmful to their handlers...
Isabelle Beauprez
2023-06-06 21:59:53 +0000 UTCSuch incredible content. Damn. This was one of the best but definitely the hardest episode to take in. Grateful for this podcast.
Meghan french
2023-06-03 02:03:03 +0000 UTCWow! I thought I knew this story. Best line of the episode: "And here comes the whale."
Swunkie
2023-05-28 03:48:05 +0000 UTCNo way !!!!!!!! Looks like ACC needs to come to Newcastle for a meet and greet. At least 2 of us would show up !!!!
Kardonay
2023-05-27 06:50:15 +0000 UTCHey there neighbour
Lady Blanche
2023-05-27 01:11:20 +0000 UTCWhen I watched BlackFish when CNN broadcast it.. I couldn’t bring myself to ever give my money to sea world or zoos EVER again.. my heart breaks for the animals all for the monetary gain of some asshole.. good job ACC for working on making this episode what it is..
Jessica Vasquez
2023-05-27 01:09:04 +0000 UTCACC, this one may be your best yet!! I loved your second-person narration introducing Tilikum.
Melissa Vizza
2023-05-26 22:23:56 +0000 UTCWe have an animal park down the road from us - the kids love it but those poor creatures should be free. What spanner thought a fucking Lemur would do well living in Newcastle, Australia??
Kardonay
2023-05-26 01:14:05 +0000 UTCGood to know we can swindle other species too 🥲🫣 I remember being enamored by Sea World Ohio as a kid… what an actual toilet it must’ve been for those animals. If it were open now I don’t think I could stand to see the reality of it as an adult. Thank you for the reminder that saving the whales means protecting their world, not forcing them to adapt to ours.
Amanda Bailey
2023-05-25 23:17:51 +0000 UTCI love it when animals take revenge on people
Celine
2023-05-25 19:15:38 +0000 UTCI never watch animal movies. Will not promote that
Celine
2023-05-25 18:53:32 +0000 UTCPeople are the worst. I love animals way more
Celine
2023-05-25 18:51:28 +0000 UTCAbsolutely fucking heart-breaking episode.. If this (rightly) upsets you watch Dominion too. www.watchdominion.org
Nick Saunders
2023-05-24 08:17:24 +0000 UTCDude, your instagram post today was heartbreaking
Jane S
2023-05-23 19:59:40 +0000 UTCOmg PETA, I'd love to never hear about you again 😆
Alison Ryland
2023-05-23 19:28:39 +0000 UTCGreat, albeit heartbreaking, episode.
Stephanie Barnes
2023-05-23 16:07:31 +0000 UTCAlternate title: "Want strangers to see you ugly cry? Listen to this one in public."
Frances Mary
2023-05-23 03:42:24 +0000 UTCThanks for the warnings, everyone. I CANNOT listen to or watch anything involving cruelty to animals. So will pass on this one just like I passed on the horse story.
Michelle Hebert
2023-05-22 21:37:32 +0000 UTCThis one really got me 😢
Cas Thibeau
2023-05-22 20:17:20 +0000 UTCThis episode is so powerful, if you mailed it to someone in a package it would blow up in their face. I do not trust you.
Swunkie
2023-05-22 19:52:28 +0000 UTCGreat episode!
Keenan
2023-05-22 19:00:17 +0000 UTCI tried to watch Blackfish after listening to this episode but that was just more than I could take. The visuals of the small tanks and the gorgeous animals forced to do carnival tricks was overwhelming. ACC, thank you, as always, for telling the hard stories.
Jane S
2023-05-22 18:17:57 +0000 UTCOof. This was rough. As a child of the 90's, I too was obsessed with sea life, so this one hits a bit harder. Thanks again for your brilliant reporting, ACC
Jenn
2023-05-22 15:50:36 +0000 UTCOne of the hardest listens fr
Emily Rusnak
2023-05-22 15:31:17 +0000 UTCPay the Writers!!!
sucriC drawkcaB
2023-05-22 15:01:36 +0000 UTCTillikum was the Nat Turner of his species. Those trainers paid the price for our hubris.
Alexis Mobley
2023-05-22 14:08:53 +0000 UTCThis was as hard to listen to as the horse killing one from a while back
Nolan Pollock
2023-05-22 13:55:45 +0000 UTCMan, this one hurt so much more than the usual "human scum exploits other humans" stories.
Sheryll Poe
2023-05-22 13:23:45 +0000 UTCSo many grenades lobbed in this one, and I'm here for it! So glad my parents never took me to Sea World.
Chelsea Halladay
2023-05-22 12:46:59 +0000 UTCExcellent episode. I was crying the whole time, yet felt it was my duty to keep listening as a concerned citizen. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to produce such a powerful episode. Ty. ❤️🇬🇧
Gilena Simons
2023-05-22 07:26:14 +0000 UTC💔💔💔
Dani Whitaker
2023-05-22 07:17:18 +0000 UTCThere is some stuff in the movie that this didn’t cover as much. The incident at Loro Parque is covered in more detail by the movie. And there are lots of interviews with park employees and even some of the fishermen who were responsible for Tilikum’s capture. However, ACC did a really good job covering other incidents that the movie either glosses over or doesn’t discuss at all. And his coverage of the most current events with seaworld is awesome.
Stella
2023-05-22 07:07:59 +0000 UTCI loved the content of this episode but it hurt to listen at the same time. Exploring the manipulation to decades of abuse allows people to see what is behind the curtains. Thanks for the excellent episode and I hope you create more content like this one.
Matt H
2023-05-22 06:53:26 +0000 UTCHeartbreaking but so glad this story is being told, as many people that can hear it the better. Thank you as always 🙌🏻
Jenny Brown
2023-05-22 04:59:34 +0000 UTCI'll NEVER swim with dolphins! I watched a video of how they get those dolphins...they coral them in shallow water and pick the ones they want then SLAUGHTER the rest! It's HORRID!! I'll also NEVER go to SeaWorld and we don't do zoos or circus' either!! 😡
Jenny Long
2023-05-22 02:26:01 +0000 UTCTook me all day to work up to listening to this one. Brutal. But as usual, epic storytelling from ACC.
Mahogany Scales
2023-05-22 02:25:57 +0000 UTCLike a real life Jurassic Park, add in a dash of kidnapping, slavery and good ol' capitalism. U-S-A. Great episode ACC and great music, deformr.
Alan
2023-05-22 01:15:09 +0000 UTCSo glad I listened to this before bed. Gonna have some wild dream tonight 😞
Nico H
2023-05-22 00:21:34 +0000 UTCThe Orca cries broke my heart.
Jace Beleren's Unpaid Child Support
2023-05-22 00:21:02 +0000 UTCDamn bro. Kaiko was a member of the 27 club… Just like sid vicious and Kurt Cobain. A true rocker. I haven’t finished the episode yet. I just got to the end of the first half.
Calvin joiner
2023-05-21 23:57:23 +0000 UTCThat makes them smart.
Andrea Johnson
2023-05-21 23:20:57 +0000 UTCIs there more information about this in the movie?
Dana Contini
2023-05-21 22:59:29 +0000 UTCAppreciate your comment; now I know I can’t listen to this one for my own good. ✌️
Jane Blackbird
2023-05-21 22:46:59 +0000 UTCThis is NOT the episode I was looking for first thing in the morning, on a Monday. I feel sick listening to the Tillikum sequence.
TJ Tiong
2023-05-21 22:42:14 +0000 UTCYour storytelling when you're Tillikum being captured and ripped from your family was pretty epic. So heartbreaking.... Well written and told sir!
Gina Uybungco
2023-05-21 21:58:50 +0000 UTCGreat episode. I’ve seen “Blackfish” many times and am interested to hear what’s happening now. Did you know that those “swim with dolphins” experiences go through 30 dolphins for every one dolphin they can train adequately? Maybe a subject for the future. Also I read that orcas have begun attacking boats: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/05/21/orca-killer-whale-boat-attacks/
Nancy Charest
2023-05-21 21:15:07 +0000 UTCThis was a great episode. Terrible subject, but I reckon it'll fire up the public again the way Blackfish did when it came out. Great job, ACC.
Dani Whitaker
2023-05-21 20:27:08 +0000 UTCThat was a rough one.
Allison2750
2023-05-21 20:25:25 +0000 UTCThat 'swim with me' sequence is definitely one of your most effective 'putting you in the situation of the victims of the swindlers' sequences. Trevor Howard's music incorporating those ominous bass-synth pulses, and the clacking beats and thrumming in the part after it introducing Tilikum's captive living situation especially added to the horror of it all. Found myself cringing through a lot of the detailed accounts of the deaths and the pain the animals must have felt - and can't help but feel ultimate sorrow for the trainers like Dawn Brancheau, whose passion led them to the job only to be thrown under the bus by the company not wanting to admit fault to the problems that their business caused to the orcas. Another informative listen.
Haydn
2023-05-21 20:06:51 +0000 UTCOh how exciting! *listens* Oh damn...
Jeffrey A Brady
2023-05-21 18:39:45 +0000 UTCOh noes 😔
Kingfisher
2023-05-21 18:09:31 +0000 UTC
