Loro Parque leads the way with study into the hearing of whales

Thursday, 13 November, saw yet another judgment from the Dutch courts on the fate of the young female killer whale, “Morgan," who was stranded on the Dutch coast in June 2010 and was rehabilitated by the group SOS Delfijn and employees from Dolfinarium Harderwijk. The animal was deemed unsuitable for release and was moved to live with a group of other killer whales at Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain in November 2011.

The recent hearing stated that the permit to move “Morgan” should only be issued if the goal was research or teaching. The judgment concluded that the park in Tenerife conducts research and performs an educational function, and therefore, the whale's move was legal.

The court further saw no reason to believe that the welfare of Morgan was in danger in Tenerife. If The Orca Coalition disagrees, they are open to taking legal action in a Spanish court.

This current judgment is the latest litigation brought by The Orca Coalition, a group of animal-rights activists, including the Free Morgan Foundation, who, along with their supporter Dr. Ingrid Visser, wish to obtain this animal for a reintroduction experiment in Norway.

Dr. Visser has been an active critic of the care of cetaceans in zoos and aquaria, particularly killer whales. While she has researched killer whales in the wild and was the founder of the New Zealand-based Orca Research Trust, she was also a Plaintiff's Next Friend in the infamous lawsuit in October 2011 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) against SeaWorld theme parks. This case cited slavery and involuntary servitude under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States for five killer whales displayed at the parks. The lawsuit failed and was subsequently dismissed.

Ironically, Visser is now herself a possible recipient of legal action due to various statements she made against those currently housing and caring for “Morgan”, the killer whale, in the above-cited court hearing.

On 10 December, Dr Visser revealed in an article published in the Digital Journal that she had been threatened with legal action regarding her claims of aberrant behaviour and mistreatment of “Morgan” by Loro Parque. She stated that this was emailed to her on 30 October, before the appearance at the most recent court hearing on 1 November 2012 to which this current judgment relates.

The Digital Journal article was penned by Elizabeth Batt, who, along with writers such as David Kirby and Tim Zimmerman, has been active in promoting the activities of various animal-rights groups and individuals opposed to the display of cetaceans in zoos and aquaria. Interestingly, Zimmerman’s website was allegedly cited in the threatened legal action as a media outlet used by Visser.

This current development raises some serious questions, however, as to the timing and motives of this revelation. Primarily, why was Visser’s dramatic statement not presented at the time of the formal hearing on 1 November, either in court or as a press release? Rather, it was released via a sympathetic journalist to the public weeks later and days before the publishing of the judge's ruling on “Morgan” and her welfare. It could be suggested this was undertaken for maximum publicity value, not fear of litigation.

The Orca Coalition could, of course, counter such suggestions by raising the same kind of criticism with Loro Parque and their supporters regarding the issue of “Morgan’s” alleged hearing impairment and possible deafness, which was officially announced on 15 November 2012.

The Orca Coalition's position on this was predictable. It claimed this was just a ploy by the park and:

“another attempt by the commercial industry to keep the valuable animal in their possession”.

It also questioned the independence of the scientists undertaking the testing, further stating:

“the commercial industry itself selected and hired the scientists for the scientific research, and once again the specialized and experienced scientists of the Free Morgan Foundation are excluded. The involved researchers, who have examined whether Morgan is deaf, also have ties with the Dolphinarium and SeaWorld.”

Although looking at the experts listed by the Coalition, none have specific skills in the hearing assessment of cetaceans. In fact, neither does Loro Parque, which is why they called in independent experts to undertake these tests.

The specialists used by Loro Parque to test the killer whale's hearing were from the Netherlands Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Study (IMARES), the National Foundation for Marine Mammals of the U.S.A., and the Office of Naval Research for the U.S. Armed Forces (U.S. Navy).

The researchers involved included:

Dr. Dorian S. Houser: Director of Biological and Bioacoustical Research for The National Marine Mammal Foundation, who won the Acoustical Society of America’s 2007 R. Bruce Lindsay Award for his contributions to animal bioacoustics and to understanding echolocation and hearing by dolphins. Dr. Houser’s work has been used (among other things) to ascertain the hearing abilities of stranded marine mammals with a view to their suitability for successful release back to the wild after rehabilitation by groups such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Cape Cod stranding network and The Marine Mammal Center, California. A useful overview of some of Dr. Houser’s work can be found in this video presented at the SCMM 2011 Workshop.

Dr. Klaus Lucke has been involved in and published research on anthropogenic (human-caused) noise and its effects on cetaceans, and his work has involved both wild and captive animals. He was appointed in 2000 to the International Advisory Panel of Experts on Marine Ecology (IAPEME) Danish Energy Authority to comment on the environmental monitoring program on the observed impacts of wind farms on birds, mammals, fish, and benthic ecosystems. He was an invited speaker of the paper Electrophysiological Measures of Hearing in Marine Mammals at the 2006 European Cetacean Society (ECS) Conference in Gdynia, presenting a paper on measuring the hearing of cetaceans and pinnipeds.

Reviewing the background of the scientists undertaking the tests on “Morgan” and the other whales at Loro Parque, one cannot help but think how disingenuous The Orca Coalition is with its comments.

Indeed, both scientists mentioned have worked with captive cetaceans but also extensively with wild animals. Dr Houser has also been involved with hearing assessments of stranded/rehabilitated animals for groups such as IFAW, which have a position against the display of cetaceans in zoos and aquariums.

To suggest that such international specialists in the field of cetacean hearing would jeopardize their professional standing to lie about test results to satisfy Loro Parque or any other zoo and aquarium is ridiculous and offensive. It sadly reveals more about the agenda, credibility, and integrity of The Orca Coalition and Free Morgan Foundation.

So what now for “Morgan”? As an animal which is either deaf or hearing compromised, the option of successful rehabilitation and release to the wild is impossible; dolphins require their hearing to survive in the wild environment not only to hunt but to communicate.

The only option now for “Morgan” is long-term human care or euthanasia.

The Orca Coalition may still campaign for custody of this animal via courts in Spain. To this end, they may wish to place her in another environment, such as a sea pen, but unless they can obtain at least one other killer whale for company, this would mean isolation for this animal, something both sides in this argument have indicated is not acceptable for the long-term health of this animal. Further, it should be noted that one of the reasons “Morgan” was moved to Loro Parque in the first place was so that she could be in the company of other whales.

Reference

Variability in Click-Evoked Potentials in Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) and Determination of a Hearing Impairment in a Rehabilitated Killer Whale (2016) Lucke, Klaus, Finneran, James J., Almunia, Javier, and Houser, Dorian S. Aquatic Mammals. Volume 42 - Issue 2

More on Morgan HERE

This article was reviewed and amended in October 2024.