Surveying Cetaceans in Portugal

From enjoying Humpback Whales in Hawaii and Panama, Morgan was back across the Atlantic and participating in a survey for cetaceans and turtles with WCA partner AIMM – Marine Environment Research Association in Portugal. AIMM conducts research in partnership with universities, research centres and other Non-Governmental Organisations, to increase the knowledge of marine ecosystems in Portugal. 

On board the Portuguese Navy vessel the Creoula

Andre Cid from the organisation and Morgan took part in scientific survey off the coast of Portugal to establish what biodiversity exists off the coast and where. While the survey looked a range of marine life, Morgan and Andre Cid were there to survey for cetaceans and turtles.   

Working with the scientists on board

On board the beautiful Creoula, originally a cod fishing boat used in the North Atlantic and now a training ship of the Portuguese Navy the team recorded all the whales, dolphins, porpoises and turtles they saw. This data will go towards identifying which species occur in the area, estimating the spatial distribution and relative abundance (i.e. where they occur and how many are there), assessing habitat use and population structures and towards comparing photo-identification pictures (photos of the dorsal fin that allow individual animals to be recognised) with existing catalogues.  

Looking out for whales and dolphins!

In addition to conducting visual surveys the team also monitored for whales and dolphins acoustically using a hydrophone, which is basically an underwater microphone that will pick up the clicks, whistles and any other vocalisations that the whales and dolphins may be making. By plugging the hydrophone into a computer these vocalisations can be recorded and also visualised on screen. 

Click to discover more about the work of AIMM!

The acoustic monitoring system

Europe: Close Dolphinaira Demo

Having spent some time watching wild whales and dolphins in Iceland, our little Morgan headed to Brussels to meet up with World Cetacean Alliance partner The Dolphin’s Voice and to attend the ‘Europe: Close Dolphinaria’ demonstration in Brussels. Held on 28^th June 2014 the event was attended by around 400 people from France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, Germany, UK, Ireland, Greece, Czech Republic to name a few. All coming together to unite for a world free of captive whales and dolphins, and our little Morgan was there. The event was also attended by Ric O’Barry who set up The Dolphin Project and who has been actively educating the public and raising awareness about the captivity issue, and was featured in the award winning film The Cove which exposed the yearly dolphin drive in Taji, Japan.

Currently there are 34 dolphinairums in 15 European Union counties with more than 300 small cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) on display, from Belugas to Orca like Morgan. Everyone at the event, including our little Morgan hoped it would help urge the European Union to ban the import of whales and dolphins and ultimately end captivity.

This years event included lots of motivational speeches, but our little Morgan particularly liked the formation of the words FREE by the crowd and the team from Bite Back.

© Valeria Machado

Annelies Mullens, one of the events organisers, said to Morgan ‘These photos say it all: alone we are small, but together we will make a difference –FREE dolphins! Every single person who came to the demo today helped make this happen. We made a huge and powerful statement to the dolphinaria industry. Working together in a team with people from so many countries will help to end dolphin captivity. Thank you!"

Our little Morgan certainly felt proud to be amongst people who are as passionate as she is about ending captivity of whales and dolphins, and hopes to attend the event next year… and if enough people do you never know we may be able to make the words FREEDOM!

© Sasha Abdolmajid

A huge thank you to Richard O’Barry, Annelies Mullens, Yvon Godefroid, Bite Back and everyone who contributed to the development of this event. A special thank you to The Dolphin’s Voice for taking our little Morgan along!

Stop the Orca Circus

The World Cetacean Alliance and many other charities and individuals believe that keeping whales and dolphins in captivity for entertainment is morally and ethically wrong. Our little Morgan feels the same. The heartbreak suffered by Morgan who instead of being returned to the waters off Norway where her family is found, was sent to Loro Parque to live her days in what is basically a bath tub, is shared by many other Orca’s. To date 19 of the 53 Orca’s in captivity were wild caught, from Lolita taken from the waters of Puget Sound off Washington State in 1970 to Narnia and six other Orca taken from Russian waters in 2012 and 2013. Then there is Tilikum, taken from Iceland in 1983, involved in the deaths of three people and the focus of the film Blackfish. Since 1961 at least 144 Orca have been taken into captivity from the wild, 87% are dead. Of the 33 Orca’s born in captivity and have since died they survived an average of 4.5 years (source: WDC The Fate of CaptiveOrcas in 2014). And that is just for Orca, not considering the other dolphins kept in captivity and performing to entertain, from belugas to bottlenose dolphins.

There are a number of campaigns, demonstrations and petitions calling on companies like SeaWorld that hold captive whales and dolphins to set them free or to retire them to sea pens. Such campaigns, petitions and movies like Blackfish show the power of people. The more people that stand up and say ‘No, this is wrong’ the more likely organisations like SeaWorld will and have to listen. And it is working. Concerts being cancelled at SeaWorld where revenue is down, a bill proposed to end killer whale shows in California, Sir Richard Branson’s engagement process looking at captive whales and dolphins – to name but a few.

To keep the momentum going The World Cetacean Alliance and Responsible Travel have launched a new campaign called Say No to Orca Circuses. We at Follow Free Morgan have signed the petition and would encourage everyone who believes as we do, that keeping whales and dolphins in captivity for entertainment is wrong, to do the same.

So stand up with our little Morgan, be part of the movement and help make Orca’s and all dolphins performing for public entertainment history.   

Sign the petition and find out more www.responsibletravel.com/stop-orca-circus

Signing the petition! #NoOrcaCircus

Morgan at WhaleFest 2014

And so after the excitement, passion and euphoria of the release of the life-sized inflatable Orca called Morgan, our little Morgan was off to WhaleFest 2014.

The world’s biggest festival celebrating whales and dolphins, this year’s event was raising money for the World Cetacean Alliance and the Long Swim to Freedom campaign raising awareness of Morgan the Orca held in Loro Parque and the fight to save the Maui’s dolphins.

Never had our little Morgan been somewhere with so many people who are as passionate about whales and dolphins as she is. There was virtual whale watching, where you could actually go whale watching in the Azores without even leaving the Hilton Hotel! There was a submarine experience that took you underwater around the world. Experts and artefacts let you get up close to bones, skulls, plankton and even a real narwhal tusk! An inflatable life-sized humpback whale, based on a real humpback whale named Nile that lives off the coast of the USA which you could actually go inside! Face painting, crafts, activity books, stories read by the authors, shark activities and informative short talks in spouting off…

Nile the life-sized inflatable humpback whale

On an incredible main stage with a screen big enough to fill a house, experts gave inspiring talks on whales and dolphins; from orca researcher and champion of the ‘Free Morgan’ campaign Dr Ingrid Visser, orca captivity expert Dr Naomi Rose, ex-SeaWorld trainer Samantha Berg, champion of New Zealand’s Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins Dr Barbara Maas to Will Travers and Virginia McKenna from the Born Free Foundation. Alongside these were style Guru Gok Wan, Miranda Krestovnikoff from the One Show, Rob Piley producer of the recent BBC Spy in the Pod, and his spy-cams, the very popular Steve Backshall from the BBC’s Deadly 60 and an incredible traditional Maori haka from Ngāti Rānana.

BBC's Spy in the Pod on the WhaleFest Main Stage

Surrounding all these going’s on, intermixed with all the activity, bustle and fun were exhibitor stands of whale watching companies, charities and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) from around the world. From Canada, to the Azores, to Antarctica there were glossy brochures, beautiful pictures and stunning videos. Charities like the Free Morgan Foundation, NABU International (with their focus on Maui’s dolphins), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Born Free Foundation, to UK based ones like Sea Watch Foundation and ORCA. There were representatives from the WCA and Whale Watch International, a global partnership of responsible whale watching companies.

From the issues of bycatch to plastics in our ocean and everything in between WhaleFest truly was a celebration and a success with over £10,000 raised for the WCA and the Long Swim to Freedom campaign.

And then when it felt like things could not get any better there was the cake. But not just any cake, a choccywoccydodah cake! With thick layers of white chocolate moulded into the shape of a whale, orca and dolphin. It was simply delicious and bets of all the most important people of WhaleFest got to eat it. The volunteers. 

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