Morgan (orca)
Encyclopedia
History
Morgan is a lone female orcaOrca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
that was rescued in the Wadden Sea
Wadden Sea
The Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity...
, off the northwestern coast of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in June 2010. The orca, now named Morgan, was administered medical assistance and provided with food. The reason for the orca's rescue was emaciated (weighing approximately 430 kg) and likely also dehydrated
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
. Her body length was 3.5 m.
Current Health
Since being taken in by the Harderwijk Dolfinarium, much care and husbandry expertise has seen Morgan increase in weight and length, now measuring 3.52 meters in length.Public Controversy
ControversyControversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
surrounds Morgan as she was rescued with the proviso that she was not to be displayed to the public and that she would be released back into the wild when she had recovered. However the Harderwijk Dolfinarium and the Free Morgan Group, composed of independent international experts, have come to logger-heads over Morgan's future. The Free Morgan Group includes the orca research / education organisations of Orcalab, Orca Network, Orca Research Trust, Centre for Whale Research, and Project SeaWolf Coastal Protection. It also includes the conservation and animal welfare groups the Cetacean Society International, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island, as well as their affiliated scientists and experts.
Currently the Dolfinaruim Harderwijk has advised that they wish to ship Morgan to another captive marine mammal facility
Marine mammal park
A marine mammal park is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also features other marine...
after an independent team of experts concluded that she is not a suitable candidate for release into the wild. Yet the Free Morgan Group presented a detailed rehabilitation and release plan which to date (June 2011) has not openly been considered by those who hold her.
The Free Morgan Group rehabilitation and release plan included a number of phases with contingency plans. The plan incorporated a ‘soft-release’ where Morgan would first be moved to a sea-pen and care for her would continue. The process would, should her health allow, also involve taking Morgan out into the open sea to increase her fitness and reacquaint her with the area. During that time she would be provided with food whilst she continued to readapt to the wild (somewhat like a half-way house
Half-Way House
Half-Way House, also known as The Wiseburg Inn, is a historic inn and toll house located on York Road at Parkton, Baltimore County, Maryland. It is a large, -story Flemish bond brick structure. The main part, built as an inn about 1810, was placed in front of an earlier log structure which has...
for people who are in the process of reintegrating into society).
An attempt to release a captive orca back into the wild has only been conducted once – resulting in a partial success for Keiko
Keiko (orca)
Keiko was a male orca / actor who starred in the film Free Willy and was perhaps the most famous of captive orcas.- History :...
, the star of the Free Willy movie
Free Willy
Free Willy is a 1993 family film directed by Simon Wincer, and released by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. The film stars Jason James Richter as a young boy who befriends an orca whale, named "Willy."...
. The Canadian and United States governments have also successfully released and reintegrated a rescued orca named A73, or Springer Springer, a situation which bore certain similarities to that of Morgan. Springer, like Morgan, was found alone, many miles from where her family pod is resident and in an emaciated condition. After being kept in a sea pen in Pueget Sound and nursed back to health, Springer was then transfered to a sea pen off of northern Vancouver island from where she was ultimately released. She successfully reintegrated with a resident British Columbia orca pod and is still with that pod today.
Morgan's case however has some key differences to that of Springer. The Northern Resident population of orcas where Springer is a part of has been intensively studied for many decades, with all individuals and the majority of family relations known to researchers. Morgan however, although she has been reliably established to be a member of the Norwegian fish eating population from call analyses, it has proved impossible to establish her family group. This has tremendous complications for release with animals as family focused as orcas.
Despite some similarities, Morgan's situation is different to that of Luna, a young male orca who became isolated in the Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...
area of Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, Canada. In that instance Luna was never taken into captivity of any form and no official attempts were made to rehabilitate him back into the orca society he came from. Luna died when he was presumed to be run over by a tugboat. Luna's case does show however that a young stranded orca is capable of surviving and hunting on its own, an argument that the Dolphinarium attempted to ignore.
Despite the original agreement that she would not be shown to the public, Morgan was displayed by the Dolphinarium only two months after she was taken into captivity. The Dolphinarium made zero attempt to pursue any rehabilitiation and release plan despite the arguments of the Free Morgan Group that Morgan was an excellent candidate for a rehabilitation attempt similar to the succesful rehabilitation of Springer.
Support for Morgan's release has also come from another group called the The Orca Coalition (comprising seven organisations), which has employed a lawyer through funding raised by donations. The Orca Coalition is now intending to confront the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, to prevent Morgan from being transferred to another marine mammal captive facility and instead, for her to be moved to the proposed site of the sea-pen (Deltapark Neeltje Jans in The Netherlands), where she can begin her rehabilitation.
Great emphasis is placed on finding the family or home range of rehabilitated animals of all species which are returned to the wild
Wildlife rehabilitation
Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of removing from the wild and caring for injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide the food, housing and medical care of these animals, returning them to the wild after treatment.-Process:Rehabilitation begins...
. The advantage for the animals is wide-ranging and can have many spin-offs to assist them in their return. This includes the social support and local knowledge (such as places to find food). Orca are well known for their strong social networks, with some populations having such strong bonds that individuals only join a group by being born into it and only leave by dying, whist others have more of a fluid society with long-term and semi-long term bonds formed. Morgan has been identified as belonging to the Norwegian fish-eating orca community (based on DNA analysis and supporting evidence from acoustical matching). The social structure of the Norwegian orca has been studied to some degree, and both studies suggest that the “groups seem to be social units based at least partly on stable membership”. One study also noted that there was communal care of young which may bode well for Morgan if she if she is given the opportunity to re-integrate into the population.
Individual Norwegian orca are known to travel some distance from the site of their original identification,. One orca was photographed 700 km from it’s previous sighting a year earlier, not to mention that Morgan herself has travelled from Norway to the Wadden Sea, a distance (depending on exact locations) of approximately 1,200 km. Additionally, there have been sightings of orca in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
since Morgan’s capture.
There are many issues surrounding keeping orcas in captivity
Captive orcas
Captive orcas, or killer whales, are large predatory marine mammals that were first captured live and displayed in exhibitions in the 1960s, and soon became popular attractions at public aquariums and aquatic theme parks due to their intelligence, trainability, striking appearance, playfulness in...
including a reduced life-span, compared to orca in the wild. Morgan has been in captivity for one year (as of June 2011). Her exact age is unknown, but when she was captured, she was estimated to be between one to four years old based on her size. The reason for her ill-health and separation from her family remains unknown. Morgan's young age offers both advantages and disadvantages to the arguments for her release. Being young she is likely to still have a flexible attitude and therefore an ability to adapt to a return to the wild. Against her release is, as previously mentioned, the lack of a positive identification of her family group and even that she may be too young to know the complete home range of her family, making it harder for her to find them. This last augment, however can possibly be countered with a ‘soft-release’ program which would allow Morgan to slowly build up her stamina as well as her knowledge of the area, albeit with the option to always return for food. A critical flaw in the release plan however, has always been a lack of funding. Despite extensive effort by both the Orca Coalition and the Free Morgan Foundation to raise awareness and interest in their cause, funds raised did not even cover their legal fees. This led to a lesser case in court than their otherwise considerable presence in the case would have warranted.
If moved to another marine mammal captive facility, Morgan is likely to eventually be used in the captive breeding programs which many aquariums now advocate. She would provide much-needed ‘new blood’ to prevent a population (or genetic) bottleneck
Population bottleneck
A population bottleneck is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing....
in the captive orca population, as she presumably comes from an orca population not related to those orca currently in captivity.
On Wednesday, October 12, 2011, Agricultural Secretary Henk Bleker announced that Morgan would be transferred to a Spanish marine park, known as Loro Parque. Animal activists involved within the Free Morgan Foundation continued their effort to stop the transfer of Morgan to the park, but Morgan was transferred on November 29th 2011. She joins a pod of third generation captive born orcas born in the Sea World Parks in the USA, and a fourth generation calf born in 2010.