Non-Fiction Book: Chess with the Beasts

Trainer with Whale

I grew up marveling at the Shamu performances at SeaWorld, and then I watched as they were condemned as unethical captivity. Even so, despite the surface-level public opposition, more than 180 million people visit zoos, aquariums, and marine parks every year in the U.S. alone. We are drawn powerfully to the domesticated wild animal. But what is this attraction, really? It goes beyond petty curiosity and the need for quick entertainment. It hits something deeper about our human experience, to see life that's different than our own.

In this book, I'm taking another look at the lives of whales and other animals in human care. In doing so, I hope to assemble a new perspective on the human-animal relationship--one that is less romantic of subjects like "freedom" and "emotional experience" and more accepting of different lived experiences throughout the animal kingdom.

Through heavy archival research, cutting-edge scientific research, and exclusive interviews, we will look at the stories of exotic animal trainers, scientists, and activists. I will present the story as a mix of academic analysis, personal narrative, and oral history. This is a very long-term project. Publication date not set.


Frequently Asked Questions


Below are some of the things I get asked quite often when I approach people for an interview. I cover specifics and personal opinions in the next section.

What are you looking for?

As an oral historian, I interview people for their life stories, not for their opinions. I think human stories are amazing, and I try to tell them without editorializing or searching for "gotcha" moments. My (more sensitive) subjects have an opportunity to review my writing before publication.

I'm looking for stories that illuminate the human-animal connection. This can come from an animal trainer, an audience member, a hunter, a scientist, an activist, or just a plain, normal person. I'm looking for how the animal--as an experience, a story, a concept--can transform our lived experience. Fundamentally, I'm hoping to treat all animals as sentient individuals while focusing on the human experience of the animal.

This being said, all the stories I tell about animals will either be grounded in behavioral theory or be qualified as a means of creative or cultural expression. Supernatural beliefs can be important and beautiful in a cultural setting, but they should be contextualized for their cultural importance and not as a true explanation of reality. As a scientist, I believe that it is possible to have deeply emotional experiences with animals without any of these supernatural views. I want to actively discourage the romanticization of animals.

Most importantly, I'm not looking to stir the pot on questions of captivity. My work has shown that both sides (pro-captivity, anti-captivity) have many common values. Their core disagreements come down to personal taste; neither is more moral than the other. I hold my own opinions with an open mind that I hope translates to a balanced, incisive narrator in my writing.

Who have you talked to?

I am acquainted with a generous handful of current/former marine mammal trainers at all three SeaWorld parks, Miami Seaquarium, Loro Parque, and Marineland Antibes. My academic work has put me in contact with many people from the International Marine Animal Trainers' Association (IMATA), and many of these people have agreed to contribute their oral history to this project. These people are first and foremost my friends and I seek to tell their story with compassion. I owe some of these connections to the Dawn Brancheau Foundation and one of Dawn's sisters, who has so kindly supported me throughout this process.

To maintain a nuanced perspective, I have also interviewed some marine biologists and scientists who have become animal activists. I attended Superpod8 in the summer of 2023, a convention that focuses on anti-captivity advocacy. In addition to providing the needed nuance, these opposition perspectives provided an interrogative force that helped shine a brighter light on how we should treat animals.

To add to the broader story about human-animal relationships, I have interviewed various "normal" people, including the guides of a whale watching ship, a dog walker who spotted a stranded whale, and various internet activists. I am also interested in how indigenous wisdom can be productively applied with scientific principles to inform the human-animal relationship.

What are you writing?

I am writing a creative nonfiction book. This means that everything you read will be based from archival content, interviews, and academic analysis. But it also means that you will find creative elements that are typically not found in history books, like funny dolphin training stories and the quirks of running an amusement park. You will find parts of my personal story. It's gonna be fun!

What are your qualifications?

I'm a senior producer for the Stanford Storytelling Project and minoring in creative writing. Thanks to a wonderful collection of mentors, I've been trained on the craft of interviewing and story creation. For my creative writing minor, I've also been through many workshop classes that teach the art of writing. But most importantly, I am willing to listen, and to empathize.

My experience with creative writing has pushed me into the world of animal phenomenology and philosophy. For example, I know a lot about how animals are used in fiction. While I'm not much more than an armchair theorist for these types of things, I do think about the human-animal relationship under very formal definitions, which will help me structure the story.

I also have a strong technical background, which has helped me understand some of the research done on animal cognition and behavior. The framework of behavior has many connections to my main research in robotics, which means that I will be able to talk about animal training in ways that go beyond the superficial overviews often found in some other works.

Most importantly, I have exclusive access to a (relatively large) population of whale trainers who ordinarily don't talk to media. It took years and some lucky breakthroughs to gain the trust needed to ask for interviews. Finally, I have (preliminary) support from the Dawn Brancheau Foundation, which is an ethical requirement to include the story of Dawn Brancheau in my work.


Domain-Specific Questions


Below, you will find topics that I think about quite often when I work on this project. Bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and they may change without warning.

What do you think about captivity?

While people tend to focus on the dichotomy of the "pro-caps" and the "anti-caps," it's important to realize that these are personal differences in philosophy, much like religions or political affiliations. We all have reasons to believe what we do. I personally support responsible zoological facilities and animal display/performance, including facilities with cetaceans. However, there is far more to the story than arguing about the ethics of zoos. There's a lot to be said about the human experience with animals, inside and outside of zoos. I have worked with people who have very different views on captivity, and more often than not, I'm very energized by what they have to say.

Do whales have human-level intelligence?

This is actually a moot question. Animals are all really good at their own existences, humans included. Like sensory systems, intelligence is also modularized. Whales and dolphins are highly social animals and therefore have a much keener sense of others. At the same time, they underperform on object permanence tests, which underscores the fickle nature of intelligence comparison.

This being said, it is generally accepted by psychologists that humans have some unique capacities, including a true language, astounding creativity, and an ummatched emotional experience. Ocean animals like whales don't need to act upon their environment in complicated ways (as compared to humans with dexterous hands), but they need powerful processing systems for sound and vision. Therefore, it is more reasonable to assume that more of their cognitive power is spent understanding the world around them.

The question becomes even less satisfying if we ask about an animal's emotional experience. The structure of the brain, even the presence of emotion-processing analogues, tell us very little about the emotional experience. The brains of serial killers and poets are nearly structurally identical, so how are we expected to understand the emotional capacity of animals?

Can I be anthropomorphic?

Absolutely, yes. As humans, we are exceptionally great at projecting complicated emotions and narratives onto animals. Just stand in a dog park and listen to the humans and you'll get a good idea of how prolific projections are. Anthropomorphism is a powerful tool to help us make meaning in the world, and we should leverage it with our own animal experiences. Many people find also spirituality in whales, and that say something about the power of the animal in the human gaze.

However, these matters of creative expression should stay far isolated from the science of animal welfare and animal behavior. It should also never play a role in deciding the best course of action for an animal. There exists rigorous, data-driven approaches to understanding animals, and we should use it.

Is there a future for virtual zoos?

Virtual zoos can provide immersive experiences in places where real animal enclosures would lead to bad animal welfare, like some hotels, shopping malls, and other pop-up attractions. Robotic animals can also help with this endeavor. This being said, technology should always augment human experiences; it should never replace it with a virtual facsimile. Real zoos have been important for much of human history, and they will continue to be important in showcasing exotic animals.

Why are zoos important?

We are attracted to the wild animal, but often it is not a good idea to approach animals in nature as it is disruptive. Instead of chastising our curiosity, we can satisfy it through zoological exhibits. As humans, we also have strong emotional experiences viewing animals, and these experiences may be helpful for us. If we feel so inspired, we may also help wild animals through collective action.

Scientifically, zoos also provide a controlled population of animals that allow for ground-truth calibration of sensors, model-building, and other applications. While the controlled populations may not match wild animals exactly, it is far better than having no ground-truth data. I got to experience this first-hand with the Navy Marine Mammal Program, which does incredibly meaningful cognition and bioacoustic research that is only possible with animals in facilities.

In general, it is hard to argue against the value of zoological facilities and the unreplaceable ability to experience an animal. This being said, animals are a significant ethical responsibility and all facilities have an obligation to treat their animals with high welfare standards. Unfortunately this isn't the case for all facilities; we all need to do better.