Keiko the killer whale biography
Keiko the killer whale biography wikipedia
The killer whale.
Keiko (orca)
Male orca (1976–2003)
Keiko (c. 1976 – 12 December 2003) was a male orca captured in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland in 1979, and widely known for his portrayal of Willy in the 1993 film Free Willy.
In 1996, Warner Bros. and the International Marine Mammal Project collaborated to return Keiko to the wild. After years of being prepared for reintegration, Keiko was flown to Iceland in 1998 and in 2002, became the first captive orca to be fully released back into the ocean.
Keiko the killer whale biography
On 12 December 2003, he died of pneumonia in a bay in Norway at the age of 27.[2]
Life
Keiko was captured near Reyðarfjörður, Iceland in 1979 at the approximate age of two and sold to the Icelandic Aquarium in Hafnarfjörður.
At the time, he was named Siggi, with the name Kago given at a later date.[3][4]
In 1982, he was transferred to Marineland in Ontario, Canada. It was at this new facility he first started performing for the public.
He develop