Stranded Orca 'Morgan' at dolphinarium Harderwijk

A killer whale which got stranded in the shallow Wadden Sea, off the north coast of the Netherlands, is doing reasonably well, say carers who took the exhausted animal to the Dolfinarium marine zoo in Harderwijk. "She is in a worrying condition, but we are optimistic," a spokesperson for the zoo said on Thursday.

The young whale, which measures 3.5 metres, was visibly emaciated when she was caught in the Wadden Sea. "She obviously hadn't eaten anything for days," according to the spokesperson. The whale is in a separate basin under around-the-clock supervision to prevent her from injuring herself.

The zoo workers are planning to return the animal to sea when she has recovered. The last time a killer whale, or orca, ventured close to the Dutch coast was in 1943.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• killer whale
• orka
• orca
• morgan
• stranded
• dolfinarium
• netherlands

[savecetaceans]

She looks so sad, is this her tank. is this it?? She can't dive? she can only go back and forth? :(

[ninjawanda]

@savecetaceans yeah this is her tank. she's still in this same one since I've filmed this.

[DoveDancing]

This is SICK. BETTER TO DIE WILD AND FREE THAT EXIST IN CAPTIVITY... THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE!

[riemertje]

@ropich it's unbelievable that we do this

[ropich]

SHAME ON THE NETHERLANDS

[ropich]

@riemertje SHAME ON THE NETHERLANDS

[ropich]

She should absolutely not be sold to Seaworld and the tank in Tennerie Spain, where she would like a terrible life in slavery and prostitution. She should be set free pursuant to the reintegration and rehabilitation plan proposed by the Free Morgan Foundation. The proposal of the Dolphinarium is driven purely by greed. The Dolphinarium and SeaWorld are horrible organizations that should be boycotted for enslaving intelligent, beautiful social animals for their own personal gain.

[ropich]

Morgan deserves the right to be set free in accordance with the plan developed by the scientists that have formed the Free Morgan Foundation.

[ropich]

Seaworld and the Dolphinarium's shameless argument that her reintroduction to the wild is no longer possible is merely intended to secure Morgan for their captive breading (they are out of females) and entertainment programs. Shame on them they make me sick. The Netherlands government, by authorizing her transfer to Seaworld, is complicit in enslaving an intelligent and beautiful animal.

[ropich]

Morgan should not be prostituted out and sold into in some Seaworld amusement park. The original plan when she was recovered was that she would be reintroduced to the wild. Much of the scientific community believes that this plan is still viable. There is precedent to show that this is possible as is evidenced by the reintroduction into the wild of Springer, an orca caught in similar circumstances off the pacific northwest coast of Canada/USA.

[KZCrazyyy]

Aww thats too shallow and small :(