Oh Really?: Free Willy

I really can't seem to tear myself away from documentaries. I think it's safe to say that it's currently my go to genre. If I can find a good doc on my netflix, it's on my queue. The one that I'm hoping to soon watch is the story about Keiko, the real life story of the orca who was in the movie Free Willy. The movie, Keiko The Untold Story, tells the story of his life after Free Willy. Keiko belonged to an amusement park in MEXICO CITY. His home was made for bottle-nosed dolphins (not even!) and was not equipped to cool the waters to a suitable temp for orcas. I remember this wave of sadness that washed over me when I did this dolphin swim excursion in Cozumel. There were all these beautiful dolphins living in these tiny enclosures. I think that was the turning point for me and why I am more aware of wild animals in captivity. When I got back home, I looked up all these articles about performing dolphins and from then on, I've been set on not supporting these types of practices. Some people see things like this and they're either effected, or they're not. I am. It wasn't until after the movie was such a big hit that his living condition was made into a huge controversy. The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation was created and millions of dollars was raised to have him relocated to Oregon where he was rehabilitated and trained to live like an orca in the wild. He was eventually released back into the wild with caretakers following and looking after him. Keiko only lived freely in the ocean for three or four years before he died of acute pneumonia. Keiko is the only captive orca to be released back into the wild. The documentary won Best Feature Documentary at the Indie Fest Film Competition 2011. The doc let's the audience decide whether his release was a success. Even though I haven't seen the movie yet, I believe it was a success. To be able to swim in an open ocean for a few short years far outweighs swimming around in a circle for the rest of your life.

The following is from Care2:

The Timeline of Keiko's Life

* Keiko was born in 1977 or 1978 in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland. He was torn from his family at the age of 2, when he was captured by a fishing boat. Marineland in Ontario, Canada bought him in 1982 where he became a performing animal.

* In 1985 Marineland sold Keiko to Reino Aventura, an amusement park in Mexico City, for $350,000. He performed for audiences for the next 14 years, while living in a pool that was made for a bottlenose dolphin. The pool was not equipped to cool it to temperatures suitable for orcas, so Keiko developed a skin disease and no other aquarium would accept him.

* In 1993 Keiko, starred in the hit movie, "Free Willy" and became the center of a controversy after his fans, who were mostly children found out he was living in poor conditions in the amusement park.

* The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation was founded and raised millions of dollars to relocate the orca. Meanwhile Keiko's health began to deteriorate.

* The Earth Island Institute, an advocacy group for marine wildlife started to research how to nurse Keiko back to health and return him to the wild.

* In 1996 United Parcel Services (UPS) donated a plane to airlift the 7,720 pound whale to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Keiko swam in natural sea water for the first time in 14 years.

* From 1996-1997 the staff worked on getting Keiko healthy and began to teach him how to hunt for live fish. Keiko gained nearly 2,000 pounds and his skin condition disappeared.

* Keiko was ready by 1998 to move to a pen in the North Atlantic. On September 9, he was airlifted by the U.S. Air Force to an island near Iceland.

* In early 1999 Keiko was released back into his native waters and was under the watchful eye of the Ocean Futures Society who continued his training on how to be a killer whale.

* A tracking device was placed on the whale in 2000 so his caretakers could watch out for him in the open sea. Keiko was making good progress and began to interact with wild orcas.

* In 2001 Keiko began spending several days in a row out in the ocean with other whales. The staff was pleased with how he physically looked when returned. It proved to them that he could compete for food with wild orcas.

* By 2002 Keiko was spending weeks at a time away from his caretakers. He spent 50 days without returning to the staff for food and covered 1,000 miles.

* Keiko followed a fishing boat into Norway and became a local celebrity.

* December 12, 2003 The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation reported that Keiko was under the care of a veterinarian because he showed signs of lethargy. In the early evening Keiko swam to a beach where he died of acute pneumonia. Keiko was the second oldest male orca ever to have been in captivity.