VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program
EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about what has happened to Keiko
(KAY-koh), the orca whale who appeared in the movie "Free
Willy." Orcas are the black-and-white mammals sometimes
called killer whales.
((SOUNDS: WHALES SINGING))
VOICE ONE:
That is the sound of whales singing. Ten years ago, a very
friendly whale named Keiko was filmed for the movie ¡°Free
Willy.¡± The movie tells about a whale named Willy.
Humans capture and mistreat him. But the film ends happily as
the huge animal escapes into the open ocean.
In real life, however, nobody is sure what the future holds
for Keiko. Like Willy, Keiko was rescued from poor conditions
in an animal park. Since then many people have worked hard to
give Keiko a better life. Expert trainers now are trying to
teach him to survive independently in the open ocean.
If he is able to do so, he would be the first orca ever returned
to the wild after living most of his life under human control.
VOICE TWO:
Keiko¡¯s story begins with his birth near Iceland
in about nineteen-seventy-seven. He was captured at age two
as he swam with his family. Then he spent three years in an
Icelandic ocean center. Next he was sold to an entertainment
center in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. There he learned to
perform for people who paid to see trained sea animals. But
he began to develop skin problems.
His Canadian owners sold Keiko to an amusement park in Mexico
City. Children there loved him. But the water in his container
was too warm for an orca whale. And, at times, it was not deep
enough even to cover the skin on his back. His skin problems
worsened. He acted sad.
VOICE ONE:
The Warner Brothers production company entered Keiko¡¯s
life in nineteen-ninety-two. The company filmed him for the
movie ¡°Free Willy.¡± The movie told
about a young boy who frees a whale called Willy from an entertainment
park. The park is controlled by dishonest and uncaring operators.
Millions of people saw this film and two others about Willy
that followed. Keiko the actor-whale became famous.
Interest in the whale caused an American publication to write
about the sad conditions of Keiko¡¯s life in Mexico.
The owner of the Mexican park offered to give Keiko to a better
home. Warner Brothers and an American businessman, Craig McCaw,
promised they would create a better home for the popular animal.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
VOICE TWO:
Warner Brothers, Mister McCaw and the Humane Society of the
United States took part in a campaign to help Keiko. More than
one-million children joined the effort. The owner of the Mexican
park gave the whale to an organization called the Free Willy/Keiko
Foundation.
Mister McCaw and the movie company gave the last money needed
to finish a new home for the whale. A special treatment center
and aquarium were built in the northwest American state of Oregon.
When Keiko arrived in this new home, he weighed nine-hundred
kilograms less than he should have. His muscles were in poor
condition. He had broken some of his teeth by biting on the
sides of his container in Mexico. He could hold his breath under
water for only a few minutes.
VOICE ONE:
In Oregon, Keiko¡¯s skin growths disappeared. He
learned to hold his breath for twenty minutes. He also ate live
fish for the first time. Life at the aquarium was good for Keiko.
And Keiko was good for the aquarium in return. Many people came
to see the orca swim and play.
After eighteen months in Oregon, Keiko had gained more than
one ton. The Free Willy/Keiko Foundation decided he was ready
for a return to the icy ocean where he was born.
The next step for Keiko was to move him to Iceland. That took
place in September nineteen-ninety-eight after careful scientific
planning. An American Air Force plane flew him to Iceland. An
international environmental organization, Ocean Futures, and
the Humane Society paid for the trip. It cost two-million dollars.
Keiko¡¯s new home was a huge floating cage in Iceland¡¯s
Klettsvik (KLEETS-VEEK) Bay. For four years, animal experts
worked to prepare Keiko for life in the wild.
VOICE TWO:
The keepers taught him skills he would need to live free. They
developed his ability to catch live fish. They took him on what
they called ¡°walks¡± in the open ocean.
This meant he would leave his floating cage and swim free. The
keepers would watch him from a boat.
During the summer, trainers released Keiko for an extended
test. They wanted to see how well he had learned his lessons.
After being freed, Keiko stayed in open waters for several weeks.
He traveled more than one-thousand-two-hundred kilometers, joining
other orcas for a while.
But he did not stay with them. Instead, he followed boats and
appealed for food. Keiko ended his trip by entering a protected
area in Norway called Skaalvik Fjord (SKOLE-VEEK FEE-ORD) near
the town of Halsa. (HOLE-zah).
VOICE ONE:
Near Halsa, he performed tricks for people who came to see
him. His keepers appealed to people to leave Keiko alone. But
hundreds of people touched him. Some visitors even rode on his
back.
Officials in Norway wanted to cooperate with the keepers. They
wanted to help Keiko become independent. So the officials restricted
crowds from getting near him. Even after that, however, he swam
close to shore. He responded to a little girl playing music
on her harmonica. A very similar incident had taken place in
the movie ¡°Free Willy.¡± Keiko, it seems,
wants to be near people.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
VOICE TWO:
The keepers say they still believe Keiko can learn to live
in the ocean with other orcas. They say he is continuing to
make progress toward this goal.
Some animal experts say, however, that Keiko never can live
completely free in the ocean. They say he is too old to learn
all he needs to know.
VOICE ONE:
As the warmer season ended, Keiko¡¯s trainers decided
to lead him to another area, also near Halsa. His new home protects
him from fierce winter storms. The trainers won the whale¡¯s
co-operation by offering him large amounts of herring. These
fish are Keiko¡¯s first choice of food.
His trainers hope he will see more whales in the new home in
Taknes (Tahk-NESS) Bay. Only a few farm families live nearby.
There are no crowds to interfere with Keiko¡¯s training.
The trainers say they will continue their attempts to free him
once the weather improves.
But even if Keiko never becomes independent, his keepers say
he can live the rest of his life in Norway under their care.
VOICE TWO:
Humane Society official Paul Irwin says he sees no reason to
move Keiko again. Mister Irwin points out that Keiko chose where
he wanted to be and seems happy there. He says he thinks Keiko
can stay as long as Norway accepts his presence.
Norwegian officials seem happy to do this. The nation bans
hunting or capture of most kinds of whales. Norway recently
resisted a request by an oceanic entertainment center to take
Keiko to Miami, Florida.
VOICE ONE:
The Miami Seaquarium wanted to place Keiko with Lolita, its
female orca. But animal rights activists say the Seaquarium
water is too warm for orcas. And they say the container tank
is too small.
The activists point to the fact that orcas can swim as many
as one-hundred kilometers a day. They say keeping them in restricted
pools of water is cruel. The activists say captured orcas live
less than one-half the normal lifetime of an orca in the ocean.
But some animal experts dispute all these points.
VOICE TWO:
Marilee Menard heads the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and
Aquariums. Mizz Menard says she is pleased that Keiko is being
cared for and watched. But she regrets that his independence
training requires keeping him away from people.
She hopes Keiko¡¯s story has a happy ending. So
do thousands of other people who know about the friendly orca.
They hope that whatever happens to him, Keiko¡¯s
life ends as happily as the movie that made him famous.
((MUSIC: "AND GOD CREATED GREAT WHALES"))
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson
and produced by Caty Weaver. This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another
Explorations program on the Voice of America.
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This V-O-A Explorations Report is published
courtesy of VOAnews.com
