HOW OLD WAS MORGAN WHEN SHE WAS CAPTURED?
When Morgan was first captured off the Netherlands cosat by the Dolfinarium Harderwijk, their veterinarian, van Elk, claimed that Morgan was ‘just a toddler and dependent on milk’. They also claimed that Morgan was only 2 years old when she was captured.
This was misinformation and as the Free Morgan Foundation compared Morgan's body length with that of 29 orca (of known age and size). We found that Morgan was older than the Dolfinarium Harderwijk claimed. Her calculated age at capture (based on her body length) was between 3-5 years of age and possibly as old as 6 years.
Newsome et al (2009) found that weaning in orca occurs typically during the third year. Therefore Morgan would have been weaned, or at the very least going through that process, when taken into captivity. Regardless, she took fish (and only fish) when she was in captivity (so despite the veterinarian stating that she was dependent on milk, they never gave her milk and she accepted fish within 2 hours of arrival. This is in direct comparison to some orca who take days or even weeks before accepting food, indicating that Morgan was certainly familiar with eating fish).
This was misinformation and as the Free Morgan Foundation compared Morgan's body length with that of 29 orca (of known age and size). We found that Morgan was older than the Dolfinarium Harderwijk claimed. Her calculated age at capture (based on her body length) was between 3-5 years of age and possibly as old as 6 years.
Newsome et al (2009) found that weaning in orca occurs typically during the third year. Therefore Morgan would have been weaned, or at the very least going through that process, when taken into captivity. Regardless, she took fish (and only fish) when she was in captivity (so despite the veterinarian stating that she was dependent on milk, they never gave her milk and she accepted fish within 2 hours of arrival. This is in direct comparison to some orca who take days or even weeks before accepting food, indicating that Morgan was certainly familiar with eating fish).