Keiko: Finally Home!
by Mark Berman
International Marine Mammal Project

The dream of returning Keiko, the orca star of the Free Willy movies, to his home waters has finally been realized. Keiko is now safely home in his native Icelandic waters.

Keiko first captured the world’s attention in 1993 as the co-star of the Warner Bros. summer blockbuster directed by Richard and Lauren Shuler- Donner. In 1994, Earth Island Institute created the Free Willy Keiko Foundation with the mission of rescuing Keiko from the confines of a small tank in a Mexico City theme park. After more than two years of rehabilitation at his specially built $7 million facility at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, Keiko had returned to full health and gained another 2000 pounds. That set the stage for September 10, 1998, a day that will be remembered as the first time a captive orca whale had been returned to its native habitat.

On September 9, Keiko – carefully lifted into a specially designed transport container – left Newport amid cheers from local children and whale conservationists. With the container secured in the belly of an Air Force C-17, Keiko spent the ten hour flight surrounded by a team of veterinarians and Foundation representatives, including EII Executive Director David Phillips.

At 10 AM, September 10, Keiko arrived in the tiny volcanic Westman Islands of Iceland and was warmly received by more than 4,000 children and adults alike waving signs and banners and sporting “Velkommen Keiko” t-shirts. A school holiday was declared so the children could all participate in the historic event.

I had the fortunate and exciting opportunity to fly to Iceland and stand alongside Free Willy Keiko Foundation boardmembers Ann Moss, David Phillips, Craig Van Note, Paul Irwin and Bob Ratliffe, and watch as Keiko was lowered into the pristine Icelandic ocean waters of the massive 250- foot-long sea pen built by Familian Industrial Plastics of Washington State.

The emotional feelings were beyond description as Keiko – for the first time since he was captured at the age of two – felt his native waters close about him. He immediately slapped the surface with his tail fluke, dove deep and swam several laps around the entire pen, reveling in his new, wild- ocean environment.

Only two hours after his arrival, a pilot whale visited Keiko’s sea pen. Keiko’s vocalizations intensified as he and the pilot whale checked each other out. Keiko has been vocalizing more than at any time in his past 19 years of captivity. Since that first encounter, Keiko has had encounters with a harbor porpoise and a minke whale. These all have been recorded on hydrophones.

Keiko’s vets have been extremely pleased by his level of activity and interest in exploring his new surroundings. The sea pen site is rimmed by breathtaking cliffs, home to millions of puffins and other sea birds. The pen allows a variety of local fish and other marine life to swim with Keiko. In fact, Keiko has already begun chasing and catching live capelin and herring that have swum into his pen.

The return to Iceland continues Keiko’s amazing story. The next year will provide crucial information to determine whether Keiko can be successfully integrated back into the wild orca population. Meanwhile, his arrival has spurred a dramatic increase in scientific research on wild orcas and the Iceland’s marine environment.

It was gratifying to hear so many people in Iceland talking enthusiastically about welcoming Keiko. Keiko’s return underscores the value of studying and protecting whales. Doing the right thing for Keiko is already helping the world’s whales. What better legacy could have come from a movie like Free Willy?

Mark Berman, a program associate for the International Marine Mammal Project, worked closely with David Phillips in the development of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.