First things first: If you haven’t seen the riveting documentary Blackfish, watch it. Today. Blackfish is a scathing exposé of how orcas at SeaWorld are driven insane by captivity. The movie throws back the curtain to reveal what really goes on at the theme park, from an unimpeachable source: a 14-year park veteran, former orca trainer John Hargrove.

John has quickly become the go-to speaker about everything related to the inner workings of SeaWorld, and he has courageously faced backlash from a corporation that would prefer he keep his mouth shut. Because his revelations are changing hearts and minds, PETA gave John a Courage of Conviction Award at a ceremony held at the Sublime Restaurant & Bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last month.

Instead of shutting off his conscience and ignoring his conflicted feelings, John took the courageous route. Even though he loved the orcas he trained and didn’t want to leave his job, he came to realize that SeaWorld has neither the orcas’ nor the trainers’ best interests at heart, so he resigned. The firsthand experiences John recounted in Blackfish were crucial in helping the public understand why orcas don’t belong in captivity. He went on to write a New York Times bestselling book titled Beneath the Surface that provides even more evidence that marine parks can’t come close to meeting an orca’s needs.

John details numerous incidents involving bites and aggression that the public never sees or hears about from SeaWorld. He describes how SeaWorld’s corporate mindset drives everything to bring more people through the gates and increase profits.

But the whales and his interactions with them are the heart of the book. He goes into great detail about how bored the whales are and the things they do to cope, including eating the paint, gnawing on anything they can, ingesting filter sand, and “raking” less aggressive orcas. Many of the orcas regurgitate their food just to have something to do.

As if John’s life-changing evolution isn’t inspirational enough, meet Nanci Alexander, host of the award ceremony. Her restaurant, Sublime, is a beautiful, welcoming place that impresses everyone with how delicious vegan cooking can be, bringing us that much closer to a vegan world.

Nanci has been with PETA since the beginning. She’s a member of our Vanguard Society President’s Circle, and she even donated one of the mobile veterinary clinics that has helped us spay and neuter more than 117,000 dogs and cats in poverty-stricken regions—for free or at a drastically reduced cost. Nanci also founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida.

To recognize her extraordinary work for animals and support of PETA, Nanci was made an honorary PETA director at the event.