Remember the 1993 movie "Free Willy"? Similar to the movie "Born Free" where a couple reintroduce a tame lion cub back into the wild savannahs of Africa, "Free Willy" shows a performing killer whale breaching a barrier to
return to the open sea and a supposedly happy life ever after.

        "Free Willy" was based on an actual killer whale named Keiko. But the story did not end happily ever after. In the July 2009 issue of the journal/Marine Mammal Science/, marine biologists describe his fate in "From Captivity to the Wild and Back: An Attempt to Release Keiko the Killer Whale."

      Reintroduction of killer whales, also called orcas, has only been successful when the whales were only temporarily kept for short periods in sea pens. This was not the case for Keiko. Keiko was captured in 1979 near Iceland when about two years old. He lived in tanks with other killer whales for six years before going to an amusement park in Mexico. There he was a solitary performer, along with bottlenose dolphins, from 1985 to
1996.

        When it was decided that Keiko should be returned to the wild, in part under pressure from the public response to the movie "Free Willy," Keiko was moved to an enclosure in Oregon and then to a bay pen in Iceland. Releasing Keiko into the wild was a joint project of the HSUS, Ocean Futures, and the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation.

      The wild killer whales are in one of two genetic groups; Keiko's DNA matched the DNA from biopsies from members of the local group. In the summer of 2002, Keiko was led out to the group and after one month, took off swimming from Iceland to Norway.

      Keiko's migrations and diving behaviors were monitored by radio transmitters using satellite tracking. When Keiko swam to Norway, he left the regular migration route and showed up alone in very shallow water, near shore in Norway. Perhaps he had heard the voices of fishermen, but in any case, he was back to interacting with the local people, where he "...often initiated the interactions and swam actively from one group of people to
another."

      But Keiko eventually became lethargic. His caretakers had to rescue him, feed him fish, and take him for short swims in nearby waters. Keiko still had free access to the bay and open water, but he always returned. Keiko
died in December 2003, at half his life expectancy, from pneumonia. He never integrated into wild killer whale pods. The researchers concluded: "...Keiko's release to the wild was not successful, since though physically
unrestricted and free to leave, he kept returning to his caretakers for food and company."

      Another release in 2002 of a lost killer whale named "Springer" was successful because she had been in captivity only one month, was a juvenile, and returned to her maternal group. Keiko was not part of a social unit, was not young, and had been in captivity most of his life. Therefore, the researchers in retrospect found Keiko "...a poor candidate for release."

Reference:
Simon, M., M.B. Hanson, L. Murrey, J. Tougaard, and F. Ugarte. 2009. From Captivity to the Wild and Back: An Attempt to Release Keiko the Killer Whale.
Marine Mammal Science/ 25(3): 693-705

John Richard Schrock, Emporia State University, NAIA Board Member