95. The Captive (SeaWorld)

This one made me cry, and I’ve listened to all kinds of gruesome true crime. Your description of them being taken from their pods and their families was absolutely heartbreaking.

“Swim with me…” I’ve listened to this episode so many times. It’s incredible. Thank you.

Is one was pretty tough to get through ngl

So incredibly sad! These poor whales 😞

Imagine 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!!!

Fuck SeaWorld.

Despicable, 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...

Such incredible content. Damn. This was one of the best but definitely the hardest episode to take in. Grateful for this podcast.

Wow! I thought I knew this story. Best line of the episode: "And here comes the whale."

When 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..

ACC, this one may be your best yet!! I loved your second-person narration introducing Tilikum.

We 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??

Good 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.

I love it when animals take revenge on people

I never watch animal movies. Will not promote that

People are the worst. I love animals way more

Absolutely fucking heart-breaking episode.. If this (rightly) upsets you watch Dominion too. www.watchdominion.org

Dude, your instagram post today was heartbreaking

Omg PETA, I'd love to never hear about you again 😆

Great, albeit heartbreaking, episode.

Alternate title: "Want strangers to see you ugly cry? Listen to this one in public."

Thanks 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.

This one really got me 😢

This 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.

Great episode!

I 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.

Oof. 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

One of the hardest listens fr

Pay the Writers!!!

Tillikum was the Nat Turner of his species. Those trainers paid the price for our hubris.

This was as hard to listen to as the horse killing one from a while back

Man, this one hurt so much more than the usual "human scum exploits other humans" stories.

So many grenades lobbed in this one, and I'm here for it! So glad my parents never took me to Sea World.

Excellent 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. ❤️🇬🇧

I 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.

Heartbreaking but so glad this story is being told, as many people that can hear it the better. Thank you as always 🙌🏻

Took me all day to work up to listening to this one. Brutal. But as usual, epic storytelling from ACC.

Like 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.

So glad I listened to this before bed. Gonna have some wild dream tonight 😞

The Orca cries broke my heart.

Damn 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.

That makes them smart.

This is NOT the episode I was looking for first thing in the morning, on a Monday. I feel sick listening to the Tillikum sequence.

Your storytelling when you're Tillikum being captured and ripped from your family was pretty epic. So heartbreaking.... Well written and told sir!

Great 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/

This 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.

That was a rough one.

That '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.

Oh how exciting! *listens* Oh damn...

Oh noes 😔