Northland marine mammal expert Ingrid Visser says she will keep fighting to free a young orca from theme park captivity despite losing a legal battle in the Netherlands' highest court.
Dr Visser has been campaigning since 2010 to have a female orca named Morgan returned to the wild. The orca was originally rescued in the North Sea and brought to a Dutch dolphin centre to recover. It was later transferred to Loro Parque, a theme park in Spain's Canary Islands.
Dr Visser, along with groups such as the Orca Coalition and the Free Morgan Foundation, maintains the transfer was illegal and that Morgan is suffering from confinement in a small tank and attacks by larger orca. She has collected evidence of damage to the orca's teeth and jaws as well as innumerable ''rake marks'' left by other orca.
After a see-saw series of legal victories and losses the case reached the Netherlands' highest court of appeal, the Raad Van State, late last year. Its judgment, upholding an earlier decision that Morgan's transfer was lawful, was released on April 23.
Dr Visser said she was devastated but determined to keep fighting for an end to keeping orca in captivity.