VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with theVOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about whathas happened to Keiko (KAY-koh), the orca whale who appeared in themovie “Free Willy.” Orcas are the black-and-white mammals sometimescalled killer whales.
((SOUNDS: WHALES SINGING))
VOICE ONE:
That is the sound of whales singing. Ten years ago, a veryfriendly whale named Keiko was filmed for the movie “Free Willy.”The movie tells about a whale named Willy. Humans capture andmistreat him. But the film ends happily as the huge animal escapesinto the open ocean.
In real life, however, nobody is sure what the future holds forKeiko. Like Willy, Keiko was rescued from poor conditions in ananimal park. Since then many people have worked hard to give Keiko abetter life. Expert trainers now are trying to teach him to surviveindependently in the open ocean.
If he is able to do so, he would be the first orca ever returnedto the wild after living most of his life under human control.
VOICE TWO:
Keiko’s story begins with his birth near Iceland in aboutnineteen-seventy-seven. He was captured at age two as he swam withhis family. Then he spent three years in an Icelandic ocean center.Next he was sold to an entertainment center in Niagara Falls,Ontario, Canada. There he learned to perform for people who paid tosee trained sea animals. But he began to develop skin problems.
His Canadian owners sold Keiko to an amusement park in MexicoCity. Children there loved him. But the water in his container wastoo warm for an orca whale. And, at times, it was not deep enougheven to cover the skin on his back. His skin problems worsened. Heacted sad.
VOICE ONE:
The Warner Brothers production company entered Keiko’s life innineteen-ninety-two. The company filmed him for the movie “FreeWilly.” The movie told about a young boy who frees a whale calledWilly from an entertainment park. The park is controlled bydishonest and uncaring operators. Millions of people saw this filmand two others about Willy that followed. Keiko the actor-whalebecame famous.
Interest in the whale caused an American publication to writeabout the sad conditions of Keiko’s life in Mexico. The owner of theMexican park offered to give Keiko to a better home. Warner Brothersand an American businessman, Craig McCaw, promised they would createa better home for the popular animal.
((MUSIC: “AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES”))
VOICE TWO:
Warner Brothers, Mister McCaw and the Humane Society of theUnited States took part in a campaign to help Keiko. More thanone-million children joined the effort. The owner of the Mexicanpark gave the whale to an organization called the Free Willy/KeikoFoundation.
Mister McCaw and the movie company gave the last money needed tofinish a new home for the whale. A special treatment center andaquarium were built in the northwest American state of Oregon.
When Keiko arrived in this new home, he weighed nine-hundredkilograms less than he should have. His muscles were in poorcondition. He had broken some of his teeth by biting on the sides ofhis container in Mexico. He could hold his breath under water foronly a few minutes.
VOICE ONE:
In Oregon, Keiko’s skin growths disappeared. He learned to holdhis breath for twenty minutes. He also ate live fish for the firsttime. Life at the aquarium was good for Keiko. And Keiko was goodfor the aquarium in return. Many people came to see the orca swimand play.
After eighteen months in Oregon, Keiko had gained more than oneton. The Free Willy/Keiko Foundation decided he was ready for areturn to the icy ocean where he was born.
The next step for Keiko was to move him to Iceland. That tookplace in September nineteen-ninety-eight after careful scientificplanning. An American Air Force plane flew him to Iceland. Aninternational environmental organization, Ocean Futures, and theHumane Society paid for the trip. It cost two-million dollars.
Keiko’s new home was a huge floating cage in Iceland’s Klettsvik(KLEETS-VEEK) Bay. For four years, animal experts worked to prepareKeiko for life in the wild.
VOICE TWO:
The keepers taught him skills he would need to live free. Theydeveloped his ability to catch live fish. They took him on what theycalled “walks” in the open ocean. This meant he would leave hisfloating cage and swim free. The keepers would watch him from aboat.
During the summer, trainers released Keiko for an extended test.They wanted to see how well he had learned his lessons. After beingfreed, Keiko stayed in open waters for several weeks. He traveledmore than one-thousand-two-hundred kilometers, joining other orcasfor a while.
But he did not stay with them. Instead, he followed boats andappealed for food. Keiko ended his trip by entering a protected areain Norway called Skaalvik Fjord (SKOLE-VEEK FEE-ORD) near the townof Halsa. (HOLE-zah).
VOICE ONE:
Near Halsa, he performed tricks for people who came to see him.His keepers appealed to people to leave Keiko alone. But hundreds ofpeople touched him. Some visitors even rode on his back.
Officials in Norway wanted to cooperate with the keepers. Theywanted to help Keiko become independent. So the officials restrictedcrowds from getting near him. Even after that, however, he swamclose to shore. He responded to a little girl playing music on herharmonica. A very similar incident had taken place in the movie”Free Willy.” Keiko, it seems, wants to be near people.
((MUSIC: “AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES”))
VOICE TWO:
The keepers say they still believe Keiko can learn to live in theocean with other orcas. They say he is continuing to make progresstoward this goal.
Some animal experts say, however, that Keiko never can livecompletely free in the ocean. They say he is too old to learn all heneeds to know.
VOICE ONE:
As the warmer season ended, Keiko’s trainers decided to lead himto another area, also near Halsa. His new home protects him fromfierce winter storms. The trainers won the whale’s co-operation byoffering him large amounts of herring. These fish are Keiko’s firstchoice of food.
His trainers hope he will see more whales in the new home inTaknes (Tahk-NESS) Bay. Only a few farm families live nearby. Thereare no crowds to interfere with Keiko’s training. The trainers saythey will continue their attempts to free him once the weatherimproves.
But even if Keiko never becomes independent, his keepers say hecan live the rest of his life in Norway under their care.
VOICE TWO:
Humane Society official Paul Irwin says he sees no reason to moveKeiko again. Mister Irwin points out that Keiko chose where hewanted to be and seems happy there. He says he thinks Keiko can stayas long as Norway accepts his presence.
Norwegian officials seem happy to do this. The nation banshunting or capture of most kinds of whales. Norway recently resisteda request by an oceanic entertainment center to take Keiko to Miami,Florida.
VOICE ONE:
The Miami Seaquarium wanted to place Keiko with Lolita, itsfemale orca. But animal rights activists say the Seaquarium water istoo warm for orcas. And they say the container tank is too small.
The activists point to the fact that orcas can swim as many asone-hundred kilometers a day. They say keeping them in restrictedpools of water is cruel. The activists say captured orcas live lessthan one-half the normal lifetime of an orca in the ocean. But someanimal experts dispute all these points.
VOICE TWO:
Marilee Menard heads the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks andAquariums. Mizz Menard says she is pleased that Keiko is being caredfor and watched. But she regrets that his independence trainingrequires keeping him away from people.
She hopes Keiko’s story has a happy ending. So do thousands ofother people who know about the friendly orca. They hope thatwhatever happens to him, Keiko’s life ends as happily as the moviethat made him famous.
((MUSIC: “AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES”))
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson andproduced by Caty Weaver. This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherExplorations program on the Voice of America.