Overview

Death at SeaWorld centres on the battle with the multimillion-dollar marine park industry over the controversial and even lethal ramifications of keeping killer whales in captivity. Following the story of Naomi Rose, a marine biologist and animal advocate at the Humane Society of the U.S., Kirby tells the gripping story of the two-decade fight against PR-savvy SeaWorld, which came to a head with the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Kirby puts that horrific animal-on-human attack in context. Brancheau's death was the most publicised among several brutal attacks that have occurred at Sea World and other marine mammal theme parks.

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9781250031259

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Should some of the most social, intelligent and charismatic animals on the planet be kept in captivity by human beings? That is a question asked more frequently than ever by both scientists and animal welfare advocates...Now the issue has been raised with new intensity in Death at SeaWorld by David Kirby, just released in paperback. --The New York Times Kirby makes a passionate case for captivity as the reason orcas become killers (and) tells the story like a thriller. His argument is, for the most part, fair and persuasive... We probably can't free the orcas in captivity today, but we could make the current group of captive killer whales the last. --Wall Street Journal A chilling depiction... Kirby lays out a compelling scientific argument against killer whale captivity - New Scientist A gripping inspection... Hard to put down. --Booklist (***Starred Review) Brilliantly and intensively researched and conveyed with clarity and thoughtfulness, Kirby's work of high-quality non-fiction busts the whale debate wide open... Reads like a thriller and horrifies like Hannibal Lector. --San Francisco Book Review - FIVE STARS Kirby says people do not realize that whales often live with the same pod from birth and that when marine parks take them from their pods they are separated from their families... The killer whales then, in some instances, take out those emotions on other whales, which doesn't happen in the wild as much. - CBS This Morning Thanks to investigative journalist David Kirby, we are now equipped to consider (attacks in captivity) in context. His book is packed with facts about killer whales and the stress caused by keeping them in captivity and asking them to perform for humans. - NPR.org Nature has a way of biting back. The true story told in the 2012 scientific thriller Death at SeaWorld exposes the dark side of America's most beloved marine mammal park. From the tragic death of trainer Dawn

<p> Kirby makes a passionate case for captivity as the reason orcas become killers (and) tells the story like a thriller. His argument is, for the most part, fair and persuasive... We probably can't free the orcas in captivity today, but we could make the current group of captive killer whales the last. <br> --Wall Street Journal <p> A chilling depiction... Kirby lays out a compelling scientific argument against killer whale captivity - New Scientist <p> A gripping inspection... Hard to put down. --Booklist (***Starred Review) <br> Thorough and disturbing... One of the great books of the summer <br>- Columbus Dispatch <br> SeaWorld got a firm slap in the form of journalist David Kirby's fascinating and deeply disturbing book. --Christian Science Monitor <p> An outstanding book... very-well written, extremely well documented, and timely. --Psychology Today <p>#1 Readers Poll Choice for Summer Books - Wall Street Journal Online <p> An informed narrative that strongly suggests that despite their name, only when captured do the mammals become dangerous to humans. Free Willy, indeed. -- New York Daily News <p> A masterful work. --Seattle Post Intelligencer <p> Eye-opening poolside reading... Death isn't supposed to pop up in environments carefully choreographed for family fun. --San Francisco Bay Guardian <p> Kirby has done his homework and does an excellent job of educating the public about orcas in the wild, as well as highlighting the dangers inherent in keeping these highly evolved, intelligent animals in captivity. <br> --Examiner.com <br> A real-life scientific thriller. --Barnes and Noble <p> One of the summer's most anticipated new releases -- Apple I-Bookstore <p> A new book examining the dark side of keeping killer whales in captivity has slammed SeaWorld for its treatment of the enormous beasts and for massive safety failings which still haunt the world famous marine parks. -- Daily Mail (UK) <br> Fascinating, shocking

Author Information

DAVID KIRBY is the author of Evidence of Harm, which was a New York Times bestseller, winner of the 2005 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for best book, and a finalist for the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and Animal Factory, an acclaimed investigation into the environmental impact of factory farms. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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