In 2011, a young female orca who was seen swimming alone in the waters of the Netherlands was captured by the theme park Dolfinarium Harderwijk under a “rescue, rehabilitation and release” permit.
Rather than fulfilling the “rehabilitation and release” part of the permit, the dolphinarium named her Morgan and put her on public display just weeks after her rescue.
Working with experts from around the world, a coalition of Dutch non-profit groups formed the Free Morgan Group and put together a plan to gradually reintroduce her back into the ocean.
They located an ideal situation for Morgan: a cove in the Norwegian fishing village of Stø. “I am very positive about Morgan coming to our community,” the Mayor of Stø said. “I will personally look forward to helping on her road to freedom.”
And villagers expressed delight about hosting Morgan and helping to provide for her.
The sea pen in Norway that was offered by the Mayor of Stø and the Free Morgan Support Group.
The cove would have a net across its opening to the ocean, and there was a good possibility that Morgan’s family would pass by there, enabling her to communicate with her pod. As part of her rehab, she would be electronically tagged and trained to follow a boat and to return to the boat when called so that she could get used to being in the open sea again. And if she linked up with her own pod or another, her caregivers would leave her to go with the pod while continuing to monitor her movements.
Meanwhile, the captivity industry had other plans for Morgan, pressing for her to go to Loro Parque, a Spanish amusement park in the Canary Islands. Loro Parque had four other orcas and was associated with SeaWorld. They argued that Loro Parque was best equipped to give her the care she needs. The Free Morgan Group argued that once the industry had Morgan their grasp, they would never let her go. Rather, she would simply be kept on permanent display.
At first, things looked good for Morgan. The Amsterdam District Court ruled that she should remain at the Harderwijk Dolphinarium while more research was being conducted to determine a long-term solution. Orca protection groups were delighted.
“This is the first time in history that the export of an orca has been blocked by a judge,” said Wietse van der Werf of the Orca Coalition of Holland. “It exposes the international trade among dolphinariums as a very lucrative industry.”
But two months later, a higher court ruled that Morgan should be taken to Loro Parque.
Hopes had been high that the judge would rule in her favor. For starters, European regulations prohibit the use of orcas for commercial purposes, the only exemptions being for captive breeding for conservation, scientific and educational purposes. And no independent evidence was offered that Loro Parque provides any education beyond a few handouts and posters. Nor did Loro Parque have a conservation program.
The sea pen in Norway that was offered by the Mayor of Stø and the Free Morgan Support Group.
But attorneys for the captivity industry argued that their interest was to give the whale a better chance, as well as for “educational” purposes. Their arguments prevailed, and Morgan was promptly flown to Loro Parque.
Morgan at Loro Parque
So, how’s Morgan doing since she arrived at Loro Parque in November 2011? Officials there say she’s integrated into their orca ‘family’ group. That would be hard at best, since her family is from Norwegian waters and the other whales are not related to her.
But it’s worse than that: Observers have repeated noted that Morgan is being bullied and attacked by the other orcas, who bite and hit her on a regular basis, and she has the scars to show for it. This is not normal orca behavior, and it is unnatural in the wild for males to attack a young female.
She has also been observed banging her head repeatedly into a metal grate.
The park’s owner commented that Morgan has been sent to them as a “donation from nature” and a “new blood line” for breeding. And Loro Parque started putting her into a tank with an adult male at an age, five-to-seven years old, that’s far too young for breeding. (Typically, in the wild, orcas become mothers for the first time at around 14 years of age.)
Perhaps most disturbingly, Morgan has been videoed beaching herself during a performance. In the video, you see her on the far side of the smaller pool. Eventually, one of the trainers coaxes her back into the water (at 9:15), but less than a minute later she beaches again.
It’s reasonable to wonder how often she does this, and why. The visitor who captured the footage comments:
Morgan hauls herself out onto the ledge of the tank. Her skin dries out while she remains in the sun. After being commanded to return to the water, she once again hauls herself out at the same location.
Morgan remains there until the end of the video. Loro Parque has stated on their blog that this type of behavior is “natural,” but anyone can see this is unnatural …
The video presented here clearly shows Morgan out of the water for at least nine minutes, followed by another bout of unknown duration.
There’s more information about Morgan at the Free Morgan Foundation.