‘Free Willy’ Whale Seems to Be Doing Well in Wild
Keiko the killer whale, star of the film “Free Willy,” is adjusting to life in the wild after years in captivity and is with a school of killer whales off Iceland’s southern coast, scientists said Tuesday.
“We are very excited and optimistic about Keiko’s chances of surviving in the wild,” said Hallur Hallsson, spokesman for Ocean Futures, which is monitoring Keiko’s adaptation to the open seas.
Keiko was captured near Iceland as a young calf and performed in marine parks in Canada and Mexico for almost 20 years. He was returned to Iceland in 1998 after people saw him as the captive whale in the 1993 movie “Free Willy” and campaigned for him to go home.
In early July, trainers escorted the 25-year-old whale to an open ocean area inhabited by wild killer whales. Keiko stayed with the whales for four days but then returned to the sea pen where he has been fed and trained for four years.
On July 17, the trainers took him back to the other whales, and Keiko seems to have stayed with them since, Hallsson said.
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