Keiko: From Captivity to the Wild
Keiko, the killer whale, was captured within the territorial waters off Iceland in 1979.
He was initially held in a zoo in Iceland at Saedyrasfnid. In 1982, he was purchased and transferred to Marineland in Ontario, Canada. In 1985, Keiko was sold to the Reino Aventura theme park in Mexico.
In 1992, Warner Brothers began production of Free Willy, an emotive story about a young boy who befriends a lone orca kept in an amusement park. The film’s plot involves the park’s unscrupulous owners, who plan to stage an accident to kill Willy and collect a large insurance payout. The story concludes with the whale being rescued and released by the boy. Keiko’s location and condition made him an ideal reference for the film: he was an isolated animal housed in facilities that, in many countries, would not meet legal standards for orca care.
The film was released in 1993 and became a box-office success. However, it also generated negative publicity regarding the real-life conditions in which Keiko was kept. This public pressure prompted the park owners to improve his living conditions.
In 1995, the Free Willy–Keiko Foundation was formed to raise funds to acquire Keiko and move him to better facilities. A purpose-built pool for him was constructed at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in the United States, and he was transferred there in January 1996.
During his time at Oregon, disputes arose regarding Keiko’s health between the aquarium and the Free Willy–Keiko Foundation. These were resolved when a blue-ribbon panel of marine mammal experts was commissioned to assess his health.
Summary Report of Evaluation Panel Convened to Assess the Health of Keiko, January 28, 1998
In 1998, plans were announced to move Keiko to a sea pen in Icelandic waters with the aim of rehabilitating him for release back into the wild. The Icelandic government agreed to allow Keiko’s transfer to a sea pen within their territorial waters.
In September 1998, Keiko was moved to a large purpose-built sea pen in Iceland.
On March 16, 1999, the Free Willy–Keiko Foundation merged with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, designating Keiko as a global ambassador for the oceans.
In the spring of 2002, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) assumed responsibility for Keiko’s care. He was released into the wild but was tracked heading towards Norway, where he sought human interaction and food. Keiko continued to rely on appointed caretakers for food and support.
On Friday, 12 December 2003, Keiko died. He was buried on Monday, 15 December 2003, in a field near the Norwegian Taknes Fjord, which had become his home. His caretakers reported that he likely died of pneumonia. A full post-mortem was not undertaken, so the exact cause of death was never confirmed.
Keiko never fully integrated into the wild and continued to seek human companionship, receiving husbandry support up until his death. The project to release him is estimated to have cost around $20 million USD.
References
"The release of Keiko demonstrated that the release of long-term captive animals is especially challenging. While humans may find it appealing to free a long-term captive animal, the survival and well-being of the animal may be severely impacted by such efforts."
Killing Keiko: The True Story of Free Willy's Return to the Wild
Mark A. Simmons
"Amid the misinformation and confusion surrounding the public display and release of whales and dolphins, marine mammal expert Mark Simmons provides a compassionate and deeply insightful account of the failed experiment to release Keiko. In Killing Keiko, Simmons sets the record straight, explaining why Keiko was not a viable release candidate and how human agendas contributed to his death."
A video of a presentation by Mark Simmons discusses Keiko and broader issues concerning the release of cetaceans into the wild and so-called sanctuaries.