RIP Keiko / Willy
Keiko, star of ‘Free Willy’ movies, dies in Norway
Keiko, star of ‘Free Willy’ movies, dies in Norway
Sudden onset of pneumonia kills famous orca
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the “Free Willy” movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters where he remained after millions of dollars and a decade of work failed to coax him back to the open sea, his caretakers said early today.
The whale, which was 27, died yesterday afternoon after the sudden onset of pneumonia in the Taknes fjord. He was old for an orca in captivity, although wild adult orcas live an average of 35 years.
David Phillips, executive director of the San Francisco-based Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, said Keiko had been in good health but started showing signs of lethargy and loss of appetite on Thursday.
“This is a long, sad day for us,” Phillips said.
One of his handlers, Dale Richards, said Keiko died quickly. “We checked his respiration rate, and it was a little irregular … he wasn’t doing too well,” Richards told The Associated Press. “Early in the evening, he passed away.”
I was working for Weblink Communications in 1998 when the entire Keiko-to-freedom movement was really coming to a head and he was being moved to not only his new aquarium in the Pacific Northwest but then back to Iceland.
I can remember seeing the streaming video of Keiko (still in the Pacific Northwest) slamming his tail just before being lowered into his new aquarium where he was nursed back to health… There were thousands watching in person – children, Media, others – and they were all ecstatic to see Keiko reacting like this…
I continued following him in Iceland and his escapades there. Then Norway after last summer, when Keiko was “let loose” from his pen in Iceland and swam, on his own, to a fjord in Norway, back into captivity of sorts.
Keiko will always have my imagination and my hope — and though I don’t know when this re-introduction-to-the-wild will be tried again, I hope it does hapen. There are too many animals that live in squalor to entertain us that would be better off free.
Jag vill skriva det här för att jag vill at ni ska veta hur mycket jag älskar Keiko..Och jag kommer alltid att älska han..Även om han nu är död=(
jag älskar han så mycket att jag skulle kunna dö för hanns skull..ja man ville ju se han men det går ju inte nu för att han är död..jag vet inte vad jag sak göra nu när han är död. Jag tänker på han hela tiden i klassrummet, när jag ska sova, äter, jobbar,leker med min vänner,ducshar,
kollar i nån bok,på morgonen när jag vaknar är han den första jag tänker på…Jag älskar keiko..I LOVE YOU KEIKO..KEIKO YOU ARE MY LIFE.I MISS YOU..LOVE KEIKO..FROM Madelen agbawi..in sweden.