I first became aware of Morgan in early 2011. I had made a habit of watching videos and reading documents about orca. In this case, I read that a very young orca had been found off the coast of the Netherlands. Morgan was small, emaciated, and alone. I was immediately concerned for her and started following her story, hoping that hers didn’t turn tragic like so many other young orca rescues. So many of them don’t make it. Unfortunately for Morgan, what happened was almost just as bad. Morgan was “rescued”. It was deemed necessary for her survival to remove her from the ocean and transport her to a nearby theme park. Here she was to be rehabilitated and released per a Dutch permit. This never happened for poor Morgan. Instead, through falsified documents, she was ordered kept in captivity when she should have been freed. This was heartbreaking.
Morgan is now considered the property of SeaWorld and is kept in a small amusement park called Loro Parque. They currently house six orca: Keto, Tekoa, Skyla, Morgan, Kohana, and Kohana’s son Adan. I still cannot follow how Morgan became a SeaWorld whale, but I can tell that Loro Parque is too small a home for an orca, used to the vastness of the ocean.
In an Article called, Blood in the Water Tim Zimmermann details an incident involving the orca Keto and his trainer Alexis Martínez. During this incident, Martínez was killed. Before his death, he had told his girlfriend about the conditions at the park. He talked about aggression between animals. This was also documented by Dr. Ingrid Visser and the Free Morgan Foundation when visiting Morgan at Loro Parque. According to various sources, including the Free Morgan Foundation, Morgan does not get along with the other whales at the park and is bullied, often sustaining injuries
Along with rake marks, Morgan has been seen ramming the gate to her enclosure and beaching herself to escape the other whales. She is tortured and abused, not just by the park, but by her intended companions. She needs to be returned to her pod.
Along with rake marks, Morgan has been seen ramming the gate to her enclosure and beaching herself to escape the other whales. She is tortured and abused, not just by the park, but by her intended companions. She needs to be returned to her pod. The Free Morgan Foundation has been working on getting Morgan released, but so far has been unable to do so. On their site, they have the evidence that they have gathered detailing the unethical practices of the Dutch government and others, that have resulted in Morgan’s long stay in captivity, including a release plan for Morgan and repudiating the evidence that she might be completely deaf. Morgan in videos has been seen responding to audio commands and had developed, prior to her capture, a language taught to her by her pod.
Given that Morgan is young and has developed a language, and the fact that her home pod is known, an attempt to return her to her family should be made. If Morgan is unable to be returned to her family, she should remain in a sea pen where she can be studied, and at the very least live in the ocean. Please consider donating to the Free Morgan Foundation and reading more about imprisoned orca and the fight to see them free
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