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 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 29, 2011. She joins a pod of second generation captive born orcas born in the Sea World Parks in the USA, and a third generation calf born in 2010.
On January 3, 2004, one of the activists against Morgans captivity, Geoffrey Deckers, said that an orca like Morgan has a value of $7 million. He said that the park's focal reason to adopt Morgan was to bring fresh DNA to their breeding program and to bring an attraction to their park. He instead argued for a policy to euthanize stranded orcas if they could not be returned to the ocean.
On April 23, 2014, the Council of State judged that the transfer to Loro Parque was lawful. The Council reasoned that the park had sufficient knowledge on the treatment of orcas. According to the Council a release Morgan was not an alternative for reasons that she belonged to a species of social animals while her family was not located and; that Morgan was young and it was unclear whether she could feed herself.
Life at Loro Parque
Upon Morgan's arrival at Loro Parque, she was introduced to one-year-old Adán and seven-year-old Skyla. Morgan was eventually introduced to the park's oldest female, Kohana (along with Skyla). According to various photographic sources, as of December 7, Morgan has also been introduced to eleven-year-old Tekoa, the park's second oldest male. Morgan has been introduced to sixteen-year-old Keto, the park's oldest male.
In May 2012 Loro Parque announced there is a good chance that Morgan is partially deaf. According to the trainers at the park, Morgan barely responds to whistle signals, but she does respond well to hand and arm gestures. The Orca Coalition stated it was 'stunned' by the announcement, which the coalition believes was done only in preparation of a new lawsuit filed by the Coalition, due for 1 November 2012.
- "Research on Morgan by Project NAKID".
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- Duffield, Deborah A.; Odell, Daniel K.; McBain, James F.; Andrews, Brad (1995). "Killer whale (Orcinus orca) reproduction at Sea World". Zoo Biology 14 (5): 417–430. doi:10.1002/zoo.1430140504.
- (Dutch)Hermie Saeijs, [frontierworld.nl/radio/?p=2173 Radio Actief 3 januari 2014]. Radio Actief, Frontier Radio, 4 januari 2014
- (Dutch)Verhuizing orka Morgan naar Tenerife 't