But during his time with the whales, a fearful Keiko would always stay at the edge of the pod, often up to metres away. Experts from Marine Mammal Science said Keiko would be seen floating motionless - known as logging - or swimming slowly. Tragically, samples taken from the whale's stomach after his excursions with the pod found no traces of any food, meaning Keiko had not managed to forage for any food.
In a glimmer of hope, there was one occasion when Keiko was spotted diving among the other killer whales. But the splash from the tail of one of the orcas startled and unnerved Keiko and he immediately swam to the tracking boat for safety.
Sadly, this was the one and only time the star of Free Willy was seen diving and interacting with other killer whales. On another occasion, he was seen following a small boat with local people on board for a fishing trip. He followed the boat all the way to Skalvikfjorden in Norway and crowds of people spent days constantly trying to touch him or swim with him.
Eventually, the local animal welfare authorities banned people from touching, feeding or approaching him, prompting Keiko's caretakers to step in and start feeding him again and take him for regular swims. In the end, Keiko failed to immerse himself in the wild and he stayed put in the bay in Norway, where he remained until he died at the age of 26 from pneumonia in December Go to Websites and Libraries to Learn More: You can learn a lot on the Internet about what is happening to whales and dolphins and how you can help.
Check out our website: www. Your librarian can help find information for you on whales and dolphins. Ask a teacher to help you set up a screening in your school. Lives of Wild Dolphins — Focuses on the lives of wild dolphins…their communities, intelligence and beauty. Start a Club: Schools, as well as religious and civic groups, provide a good place to start a club to help whales and dolphins. Ask a teacher, religious leader or community leader to help you. You can circulate petitions and raise funds for people working to save dolphins and whales.
You can also educate more people. Brainstorm ideas with the club members to help whales and dolphins. Children have led many successful campaigns for the protection of dolphins and whales. It was inquiries from children as well as their raising funds that helped EII rehabilitate and release Keiko back into his home waters. Fundraisers can be effective if connected to a film screening and public education. You can also hold creative fundraisers such as bake sale, yard sale, car wash, spaghetti night, scavenger hunt, karaoke eve, fashion show, raffle, etc.
All checks should be sent to:. Contact Government Decisionmakers: Your representative and senators often deal with issues related to dolphins and whales. You can write your members of Congress urging them to take action to help dolphins and whales.
If you are a citizen of another country, contact the elected officials in your country to urge them to protect whales and dolphins. Plan and participate in demonstrations and rallies supporting keeping whales and dolphins wild and free. Learn about local opportunities and enlist your friends to stand together. Volunteer at a local marine mammal rehabilitation facility or marine conservation group.
Indications that he is eating them include that keepers report less fish inside the bay pen and reduced hunger on his part. With deep dives and strong leaps, his posture has changed to more closely resemble that of a wild whale than a captive one trained to behave on cue. He spends far more time below the surface. And his attention — once focused on keepers or admirers — is directed past the nets that contain him to the watery world beyond.
An essential component of his program is moving his attention from above to below the surface of the water although he's already doing that. In doing so, Keiko depends less on his human caretakers for stimuli and develops greater interest in the surroundings of his natural environment.
He is pursuing and possibly snacking on small fish that swim in and out of his net pen. April, Two former Sea World trainers are hired as lead consultants. Fieldwork begins on orcas following herring near Vestmannaeyjar. By fall of approximately are photo-IDed, some are biopsied for DNA samples and acoustic calls are recorded.
No field researcher has yet been contacted and none are contacted for advice on Keiko's reintroduction until May, New project leader says the operation to return Keiko to the ocean is not working. New rules are designed to diminish all unnecessary interaction: No eye contact unless Keiko is being asked to do something that furthers his development.
No rubdowns or massages just out of affection. And soon, just dead fish piped into the water at meal times instead of hand feedings. Ocean Futures staff goes out to observe groups of killer whales on two occasions. Several orcas are photo-identified and vocalizations are recorded. September, Keiko is eating nearly half of his daily feed as live fish. The other half is thrown into the water, not fed by hand, to discourage Keiko from associating humans with food.
He learns gate training to provide access from the bay pen into Klettsvik Bay, and eventually into the open ocean off Vestmannaeyjar. March 3, Keepers open a gate in the whale's sea pen and invite him to explore the ,square-foot bay, anchored by a foot net. Keiko gets his first taste of freedom. April, From: Killing Keiko by Mark Simmons Chapter 8 - The Mean Season The monotony of watching sometimes hours for an opportunity to "catch" Keiko acting the part of a wild bull killer whale were no more.
Now, we found ourselves hiding in packs around the bay pen, each of us interested in when he would come out again, where he would go, how far he might venture. We each wanted to be the one that might stretch his territory to new heights in space and time.
Day by day, Keiko gave us more material with which to work. Eventually it became commonplace for him to travel so far from the pen that he appeared as if a small dolphin in the distance. The sight was intoxicating. Ultimately Keiko adapted to the enormous bay more quickly than we did. At times, three of us would station ourselves on three distant corners of the bay pen, and yet it could take fifteen minutes or more to locate Keiko within the bay.
Truthfully, our inability to supervise Keiko in the bay was the root of much discomfort on our part and therefore we continued to separate him back into the small area of the bay pen each night. We overcame this insecurity once we recognized that Keiko's happenstance run-ins with the anchor lines were minimal and decreasing. The irony of our own fear of the unknown paralleling with that of Keiko's seemed a fitting reminder of the complex forces at work on both Keiko and the release team.
As we finally relaxed into our role, Keiko began spending almost all of his available time in the relative vastness of the bay He only came into the pen when called in or during heavy storms. May, In Washington, DC a spokesperson with the US State Department revealed to conservationists, attending a meeting about whales and whaling, that Keiko the Killer Whale, from Free Willy fame and who millions of people have supported his release back into the wild, is in imminent danger from dynamite explosions scheduled to begin in the Icelandic fiord site which has become his temporary home.
He is in immediate danger. Following are the facts of the situation. The construction would involve blasting and pile driving at a distance less than half a mile from Keiko's bay enclosure. At this distance, the shock waves and low-frequency vibrations from the construction work could, in Ocean Futures Society's judgment, pose a risk of physical harm to Keiko.
Officials at Vestmannaeyjar did agree to a short-term delay, but indicated that work would need to go forward as early as May Ocean Futures Society is also actively engaged in discussion with the Icelandic and U. Governments on the best strategy for safeguarding Keiko's well-being as construction and blasting work gets underway. Ocean Futures Society has been actively engaged in Keiko's rehabilitation and preparation for reintroduction to the wild since his relocation to Iceland in September, This process has gone extremely well, and Keiko is, in the judgment of his trainers and caretakers, ready to take further steps toward reintroduction.
His health is excellent. Ocean Futures Society is now assessing all possible options for protecting Keiko over the coming weeks. While no final decisions have been made, one option would be to take Keiko out of his enclosed bay on an "ocean walk", during which he would follow a designated boat to the open sea -- a measure for which he has undergone intensive training in recent weeks.
Keiko's trainers have expressed confidence that his physical stamina and willingness to follow a boat mean that the risks of such a walk are slight, and may be far outweighed by the risks to Keiko's health should he be in the harbor during blasting. During such a walk, Keiko would be led out of the enclosed bay that has served as his home for the past 17 months and then back to his bay enclosure. The duration of the walk, should this option be chosen, would be long enough to permit the harbor authorities to complete their blasting work and pile driving.
Ocean Futures Society's only priority in Iceland is Keiko's well-being. All actions will be taken with this sole concern in mind. Construction crews blast dynamite underwater that could severely damage Keiko's hearing. An aircraft flies over the waters prior to the outing to see if other whales were in the vicinity, because at this point in Keiko's training such contact is not considered desirable by his handlers. No whales are in sight and the green light is given.
May 25, Ocean Futures Society announces that Keiko successfully completed his first open ocean walk. For the first time since his capture more than decades ago, Keiko swam in open ocean. He followed a lead boat exactly as he was trained for 2 hours and 21 minutes covering a distance of roughly 8 nautical miles.
His trainers judged the exercise a total success. June 7, Jeff Foster, director of research and operations for Ocean Futures, says sometimes the whale will swim as far as a half-mile away from the boat, disappearing from the keepers' view for six or seven minutes. We want to encourage him to go out further, but we don't want to encourage him to go too far. Ocean Futures, July 25, For the first time, Keiko just recently spotted something he hasn't seen since childhood: wild whales.
When we got there, the only grouping that was close enough to our location for Keiko to interact with them, in any way, were two mothers and two calves. And when they got quite close to one another, actually, the mothers and the calves moved off in one direction and Keiko in the other direction," says Vinick. Some day soon, Keiko may swim off and never come back. His caretakers say that's precisely the plan. And that's what it is. We're now at the point where Keiko is driving the project more and more.
Because once we're out there on a walk, where we' re out there looking for wild whales - then he and the wild whales are in charge," says Vinick. If Keiko goes free, backers of this project have said privately that they want to do it again, with another captive whale. Keiko's backers have made an offer for Lolita, from the Miami Seaquarium.
Lolita is middle-aged. She was captures as a young adult, instead of an infant. She's held in the smallest whale tank in America. Summer, Keiko encounters wild whales on more than a dozen occasions but interacts with them only about five times.
He stays out at sea up to three days at a time and completes more than miles of open ocean walks. Ocean Futures asks for 20 percent of ticket proceeds from whale watch boats. The boats used to linger a little ways away from the bay - now they speed right on by.
October 8, Keiko spent a successful summer re-acquainting himself with the open ocean. He made 40 trips outside his pen, completing more than miles of open ocean walks.
On more than a dozen occasions Keiko encountered wild whales, and interacted with them directly on nearly half a dozen occasions. He was able to stay out in the open ocean environment for up to three days at a time. Trainers maintain rigorous husbandry procedures.
May, Keiko begins ocean walks for June-July, Throughout the summer, almost every day at sea, Keiko interacts with wild killer whales. After more than 60 trips out of the bay this summer, his chaperones say that although Keiko shows much more interest in wild orcas than he did in , his interactions are generally brief and he returns to the vicinity of the boat after a few minutes. Keiko and wild whales approach each other several times a day, then spend a few minutes swimming together or chasing each other, apparently playfully.
On one occasion, Keiko was moving in and out among three pods for a period of six to seven hours. At no time during his contact with other whales has there been any evidence of aggressive behavior, either by Keiko or the wild orcas.
Staff say he still does not forage on his own. Getting him to Iceland, into the big huge basin. If he never left the basin it would have been a huge success. The only captured orca ever to go home. In Mexico City, I think he would have had one or one and a half years left. Keiko never met his family, and his success was ultimately limited, but I do believe he achieved amazing things given where he came from.
He absolutely had a definite personality. I spent a lot of time alone with him, and I talked and talked and talked to him.
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