KeikoInIceland

On the 9th of September, 1998 Keiko is lifted from his tank in Oregon and transported by C-17 directly from Newport to Vestmannaeyjar Iceland.

The aircraft touched down with Keiko early September 10 after a nine-hour flight from Newport with some delays and complications. Keiko was then unloaded from the C-17 onto another flatbed truck, driven to the bay and placed on a barge for transport to a special bay. A short time later, he was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since his capture nearly 20 years ago.

Late September, the staff and Keiko face their first winter storm. Winds of over 130 mph lash the baypen. Staff and Keiko come through unharmed. Baypen repairs continue through the winter months.

Once free from the sling, Keiko explores his new "kingdom" and only after 10 or so minutes does he pay some attention to his human friends.

He adopted very well.

During his first year back home Keiko continues comprehensive physical and behavioral training to prepare him for his potential reintroduction to the wild.

On 3rd of March 2000 Keiko gets acces to the entire bay rather than just his bay-pen. For the 1st time since his capture he can dive to the ocean floor and explore. Soon after "ocean walks" followed.

Keiko went on his 1st ocean walk May the 26th 2000, following a boat for four miles off Iceland's Westman Islands. On his second ocean walk on May 31 he wondered off up to 500 hundred metres from the boat. Ever since then he has

been going on regular basis for his ocean walks.

On 1st of June 2001 Keiko encountered whild whales. On the first occasion, Ocean Futures' helicopter team spotted two whales (a female and a sub-adult) not far from the walk boat. The walk boat came to within 500 meters of the animals and shut down the engines. The whales approached Keiko and the walk boat. Other whales appeared that had not been observed by our staff, and some seemed to swim by both sides of the walk boat.

Keiko submerged at the bow to about 2 meters of depth. A juvenile moved around the area hurriedly. After the whales passed, Keiko moved off about 100 - 150 meters and waited.

He seemed to face the whales and focus on them. Although it was not possible to conduct hydrophone recordings, it appeared that Keiko was listening to the other whales. When whales moved on, Keiko remained with the boat. Neither Keiko nor the whales displayed any behavior that could be interpreted as aggressive or fearful. Te following day, Keiko had a second encounter

with wild killer whales. The helicopter team spotted whales off the northeast corner of one of the islands outside the mouth of the harbor. Although the group as a whole never appeared closer than 150 meters, one young whale swam near Keiko. The staff in the crow's nest observed the two whales doing a fast swim around the boat. It appeared that the young whale was drafting off Keiko, and both appeared to be playing... In August of 2001 whales moved on and Keiko remained in care of humans. He was on few ocassions given a chance to swim free, but always "returned" home with his human friends.

Whether or not Keiko will ever go free is up to him. To see what future holds for him and see more updates on him click here!