What’s More Viral Than Ebola? A Misleading Video

Image Credit: kijubi.com

Things are not always what they seem.

Last week a Youtube video was posted showing what looked like a killer whale at SeaWorld San Diego “struggling” with an enclosure gate. That’s what our untrained eyes would lead us to believe.

But the truth is a completely different tale.

It’s commonplace these days to dig no further into an issue. Be it by deception or by simple laziness – many websites will post wild speculation and pass it off as unequivocal fact. It’s born of the click-bait culture that dominates the online world. It has been masterfully used as a primary tactic in the activist toolkit.

They want to use you as their pawn. Hide the truth just deep enough and you won’t bother looking.

But this latest example of manipulation is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how something could look one way when the truth is the opposite.

Watch for yourself:

So, let’s examine the truth. Awesome Ocean was able to speak directly with an experienced killer whale trainer with expertise on Kalia about the video to determine what really was really happening.

“Kalia was not stuck in the gate. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Kalia and a number of other whales enjoy ‘playing’ with the gates, easily pushing them open and closed. They also use this play to rub or scratch, because as you can see in the video, Kalia stays and rubs a little more after the gate opens,” said the trainer.

Again, what may look like one thing to the untrained eye can be completely different to those that know the whales and study killer whale behavior.

Because the great majority of the general public are not killer whale trainers, we must rely on information provided by scientists and researchers to form a knowledge base about killer whales.

-Did the person filming the video have years of marine mammal training and expertise?

-Did they consult scientists or researchers on what they observed?

It’s easy to believe video footage without the perspective necessary to completely understand the situation because after all, the old saying goes, “those lying eyes.”

To further elaborate, this trainer also said that the gates in question are designed to open and close slowly with minimal pressure from the whales. These playful activities are in no way dangerous or even remotely harmful to the whales and regardless, they are monitored and supervised by several trainers.

This is a perfect example of how people with an agenda will try ANYTHING to mislead you. There is a lot at stake to keep you from the truth. On the other hand, we believe you should be armed with the whole story – to come to your own conclusion.

Stop being a pawn. Gate play is something that killer whales have enjoyed for years.

Think critically about what you see. When a video goes viral, believability is often taken for granted and you become just another number on the Youtube “number of views” counter.

Question what you read, seek credible sources, and above all, form your own opinions.

Knowledge is power, after all.

So when PETA’s mouthpiece at “the Dodo” runs the inevitably breathless story about this video (we all know it’s coming) – you’ll already be empowered to shake off the puppet strings.