The dumbest thing you have ever seen a guest do!

[mechurchlady]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiko_(orca)

http://www.keiko.com/history.html

He was captured in Iceland and was in an aquarium there then flown to Ontario Canada then to Mexico then to Oregon. He was not cared for in Ontario and in Oregon gained over a ton which is a lot even for an Orca. He was old for an orca when he died and the years of captivity in fresh water tanks probably did not help him any,

[turkeyham]

Thanks for the info. I remember my friends sending a news paper clipping of the story. When we were at at family reunion several years back, we had a chance to go and see the ocra. But, we did not go because of cold weather conditions.

[joanna71985]

It wasn't that the movie was based on Keiko's life; Keiko WAS the orca they used in "Free Willie." He grew up in a small aquarium in Mexico, and was rescued by the Newport aquarium, with the goal of rehabilitating him to send him back to the ocean. He did eventually get well enough to be sent to a sea pen in Norway. He died of pneumonia in the wild in 2003.

I grew up watching the Free Willie movies. The first one always made me so sad, the way they treated him. :(

[turkeyham]

In San Pedro, I know they have a place for sick sea animals. I believe the aquarium has a recovery place. If there is a sick whale, they take care of it. Now, I know some of my friends were on a Catalina Express boat and they did see some Orcas. That is rear, but they have been seen out past Avalon.

One summer when I was in high school, a grey whale washed up onto Seal Beach. The life guards burried it under a sand burm. Is that how they deal with dead sea creatures these days?

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

In San Pedro, I know they have a place for sick sea animals. I believe the aquarium has a recovery place. If there is a sick whale, they take care of it. Now, I know some of my friends were on a Catalina Express boat and they did see some Orcas. That is rear, but they have been seen out past Avalon.

One summer when I was in high school, a grey whale washed up onto Seal Beach. The life guards burried it under a sand burm. Is that how they deal with dead sea creatures these days?

Better than when they tried to blow one up! what a mess!!


(cue music)

Its the circle of life.........

[felinefan]

Keiko was too dependent on humans, and failed to truly adapt to living in the wild.

I read about the time a whale carcass washed up on the beach, and this guy went out and was trying to remove the teeth from the jaws. Authorities told him repeatedly that it was illegal to remove or own whalebone in any form but he refused to stop trying to remove the teeth and was arrested. Since it's impossible to tell if whale bone or teeth came from an whale that died naturally or was hunted, they can't let anyone have any whalebone or teeth.

Once on Antiques Roadshow UK, somebody brought a beautiful carved ivory statue, and one of the assessors said that if they were to bring it to America, it would be taken away and smashed, because elephant ivory is also illegal to possess. Again, hard to tell if it was taken when it was still legal or not, so no ivory, either.

[Big Wallaby]

Better than when they tried to blow one up! what a mess!!

I met the Paul Linnman, who covered that, at church once, hearing him talk about that experience was... graphic, to say the least. He wrote a book a few years back where he talks about that experience and many others he had reporting news in Portland.

Keiko was too dependent on humans, and failed to truly adapt to living in the wild.

I actually got to go see Keiko, an absolutely beautiful whale. When they released him in Iceland, there were several times that he was found in a village, playing with the children. he was dependent on humans, and even got to the point where he was most comfortable around humans. I don't believe he was a good whale to try to reintroduce into the wild... between age, training and his history, there was no way he was going to be a success.

I think he should have stayed in Newport, OR, where they built a nice huge tank especially for him. He could have lived out his life in comfort, well cared for. I don't think there was a way he could have ever adapted back to the wild.

Good that we (I say we, I paid a little bit of it) got him out of that dolphin tank in Mexico (my information that it really was a dolphin tank comes from one of his trainers at the Oregon Coast Aquarium), but he should have stayed in Newport.

Growing up in Oregon, I got to meet several of Keiko's trainers who would travel around to schools to talk about him. Very interesting to hear about Keiko from their perspective...

[turkeyham]

Big Wallaby- Did you say you lived in Oregon? Was it Portland all this time? I use to live out in Corvallis. My parents moved out there when I was 2 days old. I went to a fun park on the weekends. Did you have a chance to go to Avery Park? It is on the outside of the OSU campus. Oregon State Beavers-a team with a 42 year loosing streak. Go Beavers!
I also went ice skating at the fair grounds in Eugene. There place is nicer and built better then Bendon County fair grounds.

The best places that my parents and their friends took us was: Omzi, the portland zoo, Organ grinder-large pizza place and Roses-big sandwich resturant. My parent's friends lived out in Legiswego. I know I can't spell that either.

One of the best places that we went were Spirit Lake before Mt. St. Helen's blew up. Saw minor amounts of ask on the top. Then when we got home a few days later from our Kahnetta trip to eastern Oregon, we learn that the valcano had exploded covering everything. When I went to the family reunion to Oregon, we stayed at the Inn at Otter Crest. We have a few friends who live near Moe's. That is the one near the Devil's Punchbowl. Now you can walk into the punchbowl. When I was little, I thought it would crash down. Also, my parents and their friends took us to Mary's Peak and also camping in a cabin at Mt. Reineer. That was fun too. Do you have any lasting memories or Oregon? :)

[ktulu]

All this talk about Free Willy reminds me of John Pinette...

[Zazu]

All this talk about Free Willy reminds me of John Pinette...

Reminds me of Pee Wee Herman.