AUTHOR=Burford Caitlyn , Schutten Julie “Madrone” Kalil 

TITLE=Internatural Activists and the “Blackfish Effect”: Contemplating Captive Orcas’ Protest Rhetoric through a Coherence Frame

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Communication

VOLUME=1

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2016.00016

DOI=10.3389/fcomm.2016.00016

ISSN=2297-900X

ABSTRACT=<p>The documentary film Blackfish (2013; <uri xlink:href="http://www.blackfishmovie.com" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">www.blackfishmovie.com</uri>) follows Tilikum, a captive SeaWorld prisoner-orca responsible for the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau and two others. The film has had a profound effect on public perceptions of orca captivity creating the “Blackfish Effect.” Our critical analysis of the film engages Plec’s (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B28">2013</xref>) internatural communication categories of <italic>complicity, implication</italic>, and <italic>coherence</italic>. We argue that the film illustrates the flawed hierarchy within the binary/dualistic system. In deconstructing a dualism, we must recognize the physical power and actions of captive orcas that could be seen as a form of protest rhetoric. The case example of orcas in captivity as a whole illustrates that regarding orcas as unique actors with intelligible behaviors offers a way of understanding how to listen to the more-than-human world. Our article has been one attempt to illustrate how captive orcas can be heard as extra-human citizens who participate, and even instigate, policy making.</p>