Keiko was born somewhere in Atlantic Ocean near Iceland between 1977 and 1978. The capture took place on a cold November night of 1979. Keiko was captured on his own by Jon Gunnarssn and his man, by the use of nets. Keiko was surranded by them and taken away. The tragic even took place in South-east coast, Medallandsbugt. At the time of his capture he was probably only around 2 years of age.
Surviving the traumatic capture and seperation from his family he was sent to Saedyrasafnid Zoo, an Icelandic Aquarium where newly captured killer whales were sent before being sold to marine parks around the world. There he was in company of few other newly captured Icelandic killer whales. He was originaly named Siggi. The pool they were kept in was very shallow, it was 4.9m deep, 40m long and 9m wide. The conditions were not good, the pool only contained 2000 cubic metres of water which was very polluted by animal's own waste.
Keiko did not stay very long in Saedyrasafnid, he was sold to Marineland Ontario, Canada in Deecember of 1979, only a month after his capture, where he was here re-named from Siggi to Kago. He arrived at Marineland with 3 other whales,
Keiko at Marneland Ontario |
