Free All Killer Whales

In 2002, a male killer whale, or orca, who had been on public display in concrete tanks for 19 years, swam off on his own into the Atlantic Ocean.

Keiko, the star of the movie "Free Willy," had been rescued from a tiny tank, sent to recover his health in a larger tank, and then finally returned to his native waters of Iceland.

He spent two years adjusting to life in the habitat of his infancy, gaining more independence as the days and months went by, until he was finally allowed out of his pen without a tether, to swim freely in the ocean for the first time since 1979. After interacting with the wild orcas now and again and spending hours exploring the coast of the Westmann Islands, Keiko decided to head off toward the horizon with a pod of wild whales.

For his entire five-week journey across hundreds of miles of open sea, researchers tracked Keiko with a satellite tag. He went more or less in a straight line, ending up in Norway. He had lost little or no weight, suggesting he had been feeding himself, at least a bit. Somewhere along the way Keiko had parted ways with the wild whales and had been alone for more time than he apparently liked; he arrived in Norway's Taknes fjord eager for company.

He found companionship in the form of boats and even intrepid Norwegian children who got into the frigid north Atlantic waters to welcome him. After a bit too much attention, Keiko's caretakers from the Keiko Project, which my organization managed at that time, arrived to once again take up their duties.

Keiko had shown he could adjust again to his natural habitat, but he wasn't ready to be independent. He wanted human companionship and he had it, coming and going as he pleased but always returning to the project team, who took up residence in a house in the fjord. He died more than a year later, probably from pneumonia.

The killer whale (Orcinus orca), commonly referred to as the orca and, less commonly, blackfish, is the largest species of the dolphin family. They are found in all of the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Killer whales as a species have a diverse diet, although populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, particularly salmon, while other populations hunt marine mammals such as sea lions, seals, walruses and even large whales. Killer whales are regarded as an apex predator as they have no natural predators, they sit firmly at the top of the oceans food chain.

Wild killer whales are not considered a threat to humans, although there have been cases of captive killer whales attacking their handlers at marine theme parks. The killer whale features strongly in the mythologies of indigenous cultures. In Western cultures, it has had a reputation for being a fearsome predator, but in recent decades better understanding has led to widespread appreciation of the species.

The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast feature killer whales throughout their history, art, spirituality and religion. The Haida regarded killer whales as the most powerful animals in the ocean, and their mythology tells of killer whales living in houses and towns under the sea. According to these myths, killer whales took on human form when under water, and humans who drowned went to live with them.

Western attitudes towards killer whales have changed dramatically in recent decades. In the mid 1960s and early 1970s, killer whales came to much greater public and scientific awareness, starting with the first live-capture and display of a killer whale known as Moby Doll, a resident whale that had been harpooned off Saturna Island in 1964.[93] So little was known about killer whales at the time that it was nearly two months before the whale's keepers discovered what food (fish) it was willing to eat. To the surprise of those who saw him, Moby Doll was a docile, non-aggressive whale that made no attempts to attack humans.[101]
Killer whale wrapped in white cloth on a boat, surrounded by four people. A board braces its dorsal fin.
In 2002, the orphan Springer was successfully returned to her family.

Between 1964 and 1976, 50 killer whales from the Pacific Northwest were captured for display in aquaria, and public interest in the animals grew. Millions of people gained an appreciation for killer whales by viewing them in captivity. In the 1970s, research pioneered by the late Michael Bigg led to the discovery of the species' complex social structure, its use of vocal communication, and its extraordinarily stable mother-offspring bonds. Through photo-identification techniques, individuals were named and tracked over decades.

The public's growing appreciation also led to growing opposition to the practice of keeping wild whales in aquaria. Only one whale has been taken in North American waters since 1976. In recent years, the extent of the public's interest in killer whales has manifested itself in several high-profile efforts surrounding individuals. Following the success of the 1993 film Free Willy, the movie's captive star Keiko was returned to the coast of his native Iceland. In 2002, the orphan Springer was discovered in Puget Sound, Washington. She became the first whale to be successfully reintegrated into a wild pod after human intervention, crystallizing decades of research into the vocal behaviour and social structure of the region's killer whales. The saving of Springer raised hopes that another young killer whale named Luna who had become separated from his pod could be returned to it. His case was marked by controversy about whether and how to intervene, however, and in 2006 Luna was killed by a boat propeller.

It's time to change It's time to try something new. It's time to follow Keiko's fin strokes and try again to give captive orca's a better life, a more natural life, a more respectful life. We have no right to keep these majestic creatures for our amusement we are far more civilized than that