KEIKO

Have you ever seen the movie series "FREE WILLY"? The star of that movie was an orca, or killer whale, named Keiko. Keiko was born in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland on 1978. As we know, an orcas live in a group. On 1979, Keiko was captured and taken to Saedyrasfnid, an Iceland Aquarium.

Three years later, Keiko was purchased by Marineland in Ontario, Canada where he began his training and performed for the public. But, he was unfortunate because he sold again to Reino Aventura (Mexico City Amusement Park) for $350,000. On 1992, Keiko was 14 years old and Warner Bros produced a film named FREE WILLY. The plot of the movie was about a young boy who saved a killer whale, portrayed by Keiko. Keiko was made famous because of the film.

After the movie was finished, people became intested in Keiko. They located him in his aquarium on Reino Aventura. Now, the aquarium wasn't enough for Keiko. He was very big now and Keiko was sick in there. The water in the pool wasn't pure sea water. So, Keiko's skin was smarting. Fortunately, The Oregon Coast Aquarium and the FREE WILLY Keiko Foundation (formed with a $4 million donation) discussed a new home for Keiko.

The Foundation announced that Keiko would live at a new $7.3 million rehabilitation facility at the aquarium and finished it in December 1995. The pool was filled with sea water in December and Keiko had to arrive in January, 1996. At the time when Keiko was ready to be moved (which was sponsored by United Parcel Service), many people came and saw him brought into a plane. He arrived safely at his new home. Soon his skin began to heal. In the fall of 1998, Keiko was moved to a pen in the waters of the North Atlantic off Iceland. Once there, his handlers prepared him for the wild and taught him to catch live fish. In 2002, he was allowed to go into the open ocean to meet other whales and for a time he was reported to be doing well. However, on December 12, 2003, the news reported that Keiko had died because he was sick. He had pneumonia!

I choose Keiko for my hero because he was a great animal. He could comfort many people in the world from his film. Keiko was like a human, he needed to be protected and cared for by humans in his world. He could to performed that animal can be perfect than a people.