Following her transfer to Tenerife from the Netherlands, footage shows Morgan in her new tank at Loro Parque. A larger tank, but still captive and no real replacement from the vast ocean she was removed from just over a year ago.
Click here to view Morgan at Loro Parque

Morgan transferred to Tenerife

Today, 29 November, the day sadly arrived that Marine Connection had dreaded would happen. Morgan, the young orca which has been held at a Dutch dolphinarium for just over a year was transferred by air to Loro Parque, an amusement park in Tenerife, Canary Islands. The city of Harderwijk, where the dolphinarium which has held Morgan for is located, issued an emergency ban blocking any "Free Morgan" demonstrations being held in the area during the transfer.

After being found malnourished and separated from her pod, the Dutch government originally approved Morgan's capture permit to be taken from the wild on the basis that the dolphinarium only keep her in captivity until her health was restored. However being a very valuable animal for the captivity industry who will use her for entertainment and breeding guided by financial interests, we believe that Harderwijk never had any intention of ever releasing this whale. Instead they worked with SeaWorld to have Morgan moved to Loro Parque in the hope that she will eventually breed and introduce new genes into the pool of captive orcas, making her worth millions of pounds a year.

Many orcas are kept in captivity globally, the majority owned by SeaWorld, a subsidiary of U.S. private equity giant Blackstone who also have interests in UK Centre Parcs and the Hilton hotel chain. The Dutch dolphinarium is owned by France's Compagnie des Alpes. Loro Parque, privately owned by a German businessman, received its four orcas on loan from SeaWorld and although currently Morgan cannot be moved to the USA, in future years if she were to produce calves then they could be as SeaWorld has no hesitation in separating their young orcas from their mothers and shipping them to their other facilities around the globe.

The Harderwijk Dolphinarium, which put Morgan on display following her rescue, has not disclosed financial details of her shipment to Loro Parque but it is rumoured they are to receive dolphins in return for Morgan. Conservationists are not giving up on this young whale and will continue to campaign to have her released into the open sea, the place she was removed from just over a year ago.