Tim Zimmermann: Co-Author & Producer of Blackfish will be coming to campus on November 11th at 7PM in the Grand Maple Ballroom to discuss his experiences working with whales, and putting together the critically acclaimed documentary that stirred up strong anti-Seaworld sentiment. To precede his talk, a free screening of Blackfish will be held on November 10th at 7PM in the Sugar Maple Ballroom. 

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.

Tim Zimmermann is an award-winning Correspondent with Outside Magazine, author of The Race, and Associate Producer and Co-Writer of the 2013 documentary film Blackfish. Zimmermann’s writing focuses on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, and he has reported on everything from extreme cave diving to efforts to communicate with dolphins. In 2010 and 2011 he wrote The Killer In The Pool, a deep investigation into the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, and Blood In The Water, a follow-up report which deconstructed another fatal attack by a SeaWorld orca. Those two stories became the basis for Blackfish, which Zimmermann helped produce.