Freed Willy Endangered
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Keiko, the popular whale that starred in the three "Free Willy" movies of the 1990s, is in danger of not surviving the winter, according to press reports. Two months after being released from his pen in Iceland, where he had been prepared for a transition from life in captivity to a life in the wild, the 11-meter orca turned up nearly 1,400 km away in Skalvik Fjord in western Norway, some 400 km northwest of the capital, Oslo. (See also the Chronicle's earlier story on Keiko, "Whales Have Health Problems Too: Keiko's Story" in Issue 1, 1999.)
Stressing that Keiko had little chance of surviving a winter in the cold fjords, a Norwegian whale expert suggested it might be better to put him to death. Officials and activists denounced the comment, saying that people could provide Keiko with the necessary food and companionship. According to a report by the internet edition of the Oslo daily Aftenposten, Norwegian fishery authorities and the whale's research team from the Ocean Futures Society have agreed that Keiko could stay in his new home, and have issued guidelines for whale watchers to ensure that the whale has enough room to find his own food.
Captured near Iceland in 1979 when he was two, Keiko — Japanese for "Lucky One" — has since spent most of his life in captivity in Canada, Mexico and United States. His appearance in "Free Willy" and later sequels helped spark a campaign to free him from an amusement park in Mexico City and move him to a coastal aquarium in Oregon. In 1998, Keiko's rehabilitation, which altogether cost $20 million, was completed when he was airlifted back to Iceland to be taught to hunt for fish himself.
Links:
Whales Have Health Problems Too: Keiko's Story (Issue 1, 1999).
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