"Free Willy" killer whale swims to new winter home
Date: 11-Nov-02
Country: NORWAY
Author: Inger Sethov
Keiko, who has lived most of his 25 years in captivity, swam about 10 km (six miles) alongside a boat to the ice-free Taknes bay where his trainers believe he is more likely to find killer whale company.
"Keiko has moved today. It has been a secret until now," Keiko coordinator at the local Halsa municipality, Lars Olav Lilleboe, told Reuters. "It went well - like any other of Keiko's routine exercise swims."
Keiko, who turned up by surprise at the fishing community of 1,750 people two months ago after he was freed in Iceland, was hailed by his new neighbours with a 2.5-metre (yard) poster with big black letters reading: "Welcome to Taknes, Keiko!"
His trainers, who have spent several years and more than $20 million to make Keiko fit for the wild, will stay close by and feed him in the bay.
But public access to Keiko will be limited. Tourists and locals have flocked to Halsa over the past two months to get a peek of the playful animal. Some children even rode on his back.
"We want as few people as possible in the area. In that respect, the new area is perfect," Olav Saetre, a spokesman for the Norwegian Fishery Directorate, told Reuters.
It is possible to walk to an area about 60-70 metres (yards) from where Keiko will live through the winter. Keiko's trainers had announced the move last month but had delayed the swim.
Taknes bay has been sealed off to boat traffic and the shore will be fenced and decorated with posters about Keiko's life.
Keiko's trainers hope the whale will some day join a killer whale group in the wild but, for the moment, Keiko is still too dependent on fish fed by the trainers.
Keiko was captured near Iceland as a calf aged about two and was sent back to his home land after the "Free Willy" movies sparked a campaign for his release. He has spent most of his life in marine amusements parks in Canada and Mexico.
He showed up in Norway in September after being freed from his pen in Iceland in July. Norway is the only nation in the world that hunts whales commercially - but only minke whale.
