14 DAY TRIAL // This past April 23, the Dutch Council of State ruled that an orca named Morgan was to remain captive at Loro Parque in Tenerife. Conservationists and animal right activists did not take lightly to this decision, and were quick to criticize the Council for its failure to put the whale's wellbeing first.
Environmental group Sea Shepherd details that Morgan ended up living among people in 2010. At that time, the orca was found in the Wadden Sea. The marine mammal was both underweight and nearly stranded, which is why it was captured and taken to the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk in the Netherlands.
One year later, in 2011, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs gave the green light to plans to transfer Loro Parque in Tenerife. To justify its decision, the Minister argued that, given the whale's health and mental condition, releasing it back into the wild was out of the question.
The Minister further argued that, all things considered, it was in the orca's best interest that it be transferred to Loro Parque, since this facility would surely be able to properly attend to its needs.
The trouble is that, not long after arriving in Tenerife, Morgan found itself more or less willingly making a career in entertainment. Thus, Sea Shepherd says that the marine mammal was taught various tricks, and forced to perform for visitors to Loro Parque.
Conservationists who disapproved of how the whale was being treated tried to have it released and returned to the wild. To this end, they attempted to attack the decision to transfer Morgan to said wildlife park in court. However, things did not work out in their favor.
“Following years of previous legal proceedings, the Dutch Court ruled that Morgan’s transfer to Loro Parque was lawful, and that release is not a ‘satisfactory solution’ because her pod has not been found, citing that these orcas belong to a ‘strict social structure,’” Sea Shepherd explains.
“The court declared that it does not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter of Morgan’s care at Loro Parque or the incidents between her and the other orcas, only on the permit that was issued for Morgan’s transfer to Loro Parque,” it further details.
The organization maintains that, at Loro Parque, the “desperate” orca is forced to share an enclosure with several other killer whales that are anything but friendly towards it. In fact, Sea Shepherd says that there is evidence to suggest that Morgan has even been attacked by these other orcas.
What's more, the organization maintains that, since it is a wild-caught female, odds are that Morgan will sooner or later be entered into a breeding program. Needless to say, its offspring will probably also end up making a career in showbiz. As Sea Shepherd puts it, “Morgan is lucrative and she will be forced to pad the wallets of the captive industry as a breeding machine.”