USA: THE US AIR FORCE SETS TO FLY KEIKO, THE CELEBRATED KILLER WHALE STAR OF THE MOVIE "FREE WILLY", FROM OREGON TO ICELAND

Record ID: 387723

  • Title: USA: THE US AIR FORCE SETS TO FLY KEIKO, THE CELEBRATED KILLER WHALE STAR OF THE MOVIE "FREE WILLY", FROM OREGON TO ICELAND
  • Date: 2nd September 1998
  • Summary: OREGON, US. (AUGUST 28TH 1998) (REUTERS) (ACCESS ALL) AERIAL OF AQUARIUM. KEIKO SWIMS. FANS CHEER. DIANE HAMMOND SAYS, (SOUNDBIITE ENGLISH) "CHILDREN ALL OVER THE WORLD GOT HOLD OF WARNER BROTHERS AND SAID YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM THERE. YOU KNOW - HE NEEDS YOU - AND HE NEEDS THE HELP. SO BETWEEN CHILDREN EVERY WHERE, AND THEIR LUNCH MONEY AND POP CAN DRIVES AN
  • Embargoed: 17th September 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEWPORT, OREGAN, USA
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA4P3ODRK5M9OA41XPZ7Z1D7QJM
  • Story Text: The US Air Force is set to fly Keiko, the celebrated killer whale star of the movie "Free Willy," from Oregon to Iceland on Sept.9 in a major first step toward returning him to the open ocean.
    The US Air Force is set to fly Keiko, the celebrated killer whale star of the movie "Free Willy," from Oregon to Iceland on Sept.9 in a major first step toward returning him to the open ocean.
    The 10,000-pound (4,500 kg) whale will be placed in a custom travelling tank aboard a C-17 military cargo plane and flown non-stop from Newport, Oregon, to the Westman Islands where a specially-built floating pen is waiting for him.
    The expected cost of the move, nearly $300,000, will be borne by the private Free Willy Keiko Foundation based in the Pacific Northwest.
    The 20-year-old Keiko starred in the hit 1993 movie, but has spent most of his life in captivity, much of it in a cramped tank in an amusement part in Mexico City.
    Keiko has gained about a tonne and added 36 inches (91 cm) to his girth since arriving in January 1996 at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, severely underweight from a decade in the overly warm Mexican amusement park.
    While he is still learning to hunt and kill live prey, officials say he is healthy enough to continue rehabilitation efforts in the floating bay pen off Iceland, not far from where he was captured in 1979 when he was one or two years old.
    Officials say it may be months or years before they know whether Keiko can finally be released back into the chill North Atlantic.
    For the flight, he will be lifted from his 2-million-gallon (7.5-million-litre) Newport pool and lowered into a custom-built water-filled container for loading onto the C-17, the only plane capable of flying nonstop from Newport directly to the Westman Islands.
    Keiko, in his 35,000-pound (15,750 kg) transport container, will land on a 3,900-foot (1,190 metres) airstrip adjacent to his bay pen.
    The flight will be paid for by the foundation, which has been bankrolled by Warner Bros., the Hollywood studio that released "Free Willy" in 1993, and cellular telephone magnate Craig McCaw, among others.
    Hundreds of people lined the streets of Newport when Keiko arrived two years ago from Mexico, and he instantly became the aquarium's star attraction, doubling its attendance.
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