You Me At Six’s Josh Franceschi Takes On SeaWorld

“I think we live in a society now where people should be told the truth …”

That was You Me At Six lead singer Josh Franceschi‘s motivation for speaking out, after he saw the mesmerising film Blackfish and learned the real story of how SeaWorld’s orcas are treated.

Watch his exclusive interview:

Josh, who comes from Weybridge, Surrey, describes himself as “a big animal person” and was deeply saddened by the tragic tale of Tilikum – the orca at the heart of Blackfish – who was kidnapped and taken away from his family when he was just a baby, like so many other captive animals.

He’s been a prisoner ever since.

In the wild, orcas spend their entire lives in pods with their families and swim up to 100 miles a day. In captivity, these extremely social animals are isolated from their families and spend years trapped in barren tanks that provide them with no mental stimulation and are, to them, the size of a bathtub. Unsurprisingly, on average, they live only nine years in captivity, in contrast to wild orcas, who can live for more than 100 years.

As Josh says, “I hope people will look back on this sort of thing and think ‘Why and how did we allow it to go on for this long?'”

If you haven’t seen Blackfish yet, watch it on iTunes or order a DVD – and prepare to have your eyes well and truly opened!