My parents took me to SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld San Antonio several times when I was a child. But even though I loved getting to see the orcas up close, it always bothered me that these majestic creatures were confined to such small tanks. As it turns out, this bothers quite a few people, people who have the power to do something about it.

The era of orca captivity is coming to an end.

“People are starting to realize that we should not be keeping these large animals in marine parks, in what is to them, a bathtub,” says Deborah Sivas, a professor of environmental law at Stanford University.

…

Sivas has shown the film to her ocean ethics class every year since its release and every year students cry. “It’s a powerful movie in that sense,” she says, “it makes you feel things.”