How Keiko The Whale Was Freed From Captivity After Starring In A Hit Movie
More than 20 years ago, Keiko the Orca, star of the movie Free Willy, died in Taknes Fjord in Norway after being released back into the wild. Some critics say that Keiko’s release was a failure, but many experts disagree.
Free Willy came out in 1993, and it tells the story of a boy who befriends a killer whale named Willy. He helped Willy escape from a life of captivity and return to the ocean.
The film was successful, bringing in $154 million at the box office. It also resulted in the release of a real-life whale named Keiko.
Keiko was the 15-year-old orca that played Willy in the movie. He became the first captive orca ever to return to the wild.
In 1977, Keiko was born in the waters of Iceland. When he was about two years old, he was captured by fishermen in 1979.
He was held in the Marineland aquarium in Ontario, Canada, before being sold to Reino Aventura in Mexico City in 1985.
Keiko spent his time in Mexico performing for the public. He lived in a tiny tank meant for dolphins. The water was warm and chlorinated with artificial saltwater.
It was around this time that Warner Brothers hired Keiko as the star of Free Willy. They began filming in 1992. The movie was a hit, but Keiko’s health was declining. He was severely underweight and developed stomach ulcers and skin warts.
At the end of the film, a toll-free phone number appeared onscreen for viewers to call to help save whales from commercial whaling. However, more than 300,000 people called to demand Keiko’s release instead.
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In response to the outcry, Warner Brothers, Reino Aventura, and the International Marine Mammal Project collaborated to free Keiko. He arrived at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in 1996 to begin preparation for his reintegration into the wild.
For the first time in 14 years, Keiko experienced natural seawater, pumped from the ocean, into his new, large enclosure.
He began eating live fish and gained 2,000 pounds. During this time, over one million people came to visit him. Because of all the money Keiko was bringing in, the aquarium wanted to keep him.
After some back and forth, Keiko was eventually flown to Iceland in 1998. He lived in a sea pen in Klettsvik Bay, where he learned to catch fish and went for swims outside his pen.
Over the next three years, he was seen catching fish and interacting with other killer whales, although these interactions did not last long.
In July 2002, Keiko took off and was not seen again for nearly two months. He was later found in Norway after traveling 800 miles.
In December 2003, Keiko was found dead in the Taknes Fjord. He died of acute pneumonia at the age of 27.
Throughout Keiko’s journey, people questioned the ethics of his release, given his life spent in captivity surrounded by humans.
Critics said his release was a failure because he never managed to reintegrate with wild whales. But others argue that it was a success because he was able to live the last years of his life in good health and freedom.
“We took the hardest candidate from near death in Mexico to swimming with wild whales in Norway. Keiko had five years with the sights and sounds of natural seawater. I think it was a great success in terms of Keiko, his well-being, and the whole world that wanted to do the right thing,” said David Phillips, executive director of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.
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