Tenerife’s Loro Parque is celebrating the arrival of its latest star, a baby whale born in the early hours of Monday morning.
At around 5am, its most famous cetacean Morgan the orca, gave both to the calf which Loro Parque said “is believed to be a boy but we can’t be 100% sure just yet”.
The birth was surprisingly quick and smooth, with baby and mother soon swimming together in the water. The bond between them was already apparent in their interactions and Morgan’s maternal instincts very much in evidence.
The pair are being kept in a special facility for the moment, away from the park’s other orcas. Both are said by staff to be doing very well and Loro Parque have promised to provide regular updates on the calf’s progress.
Loro Parque owner Wolfgang Kiessling says the entire team are thrilled at the news. “We have been providing Morgan with all the care and support required to guarantee a safe birth. All births at Loro Parque are special but an orca birth is particularly significant. This one is testimony to the hard work of our teams of carers, vets and scientists” said Kiessling.
As reported here last month, Loro Parque featured in the news after it was revealed that it had achieved what was billed as a “world first” in whale research following the successful application of an electrocardiogram in a pregnant orca.
The park’s team worked closely with colleagues from France’s world-leading National Centre for Science Research (CNRS) to collect data on the heart function of Morgan in the final weeks of her pregnancy.
Morgan has been the facility’s most famous resident since she arrived in Loro Parque in 2011 after she was rescued when she was separated from her pod and became stranded on the Dutch coast.
Photo: Loro Parque
