![]() ![]() Inspired by the films, an international campaign began in 1993 to free Keiko and return him to the wild - the first orca whale to be freed in this way. Keiko, whose name means "Lucky One" in Japanese, starred in three Free Willy films, in which a young boy befriends a killer whale and encourages him to jump over an aquarium wall to ocean freedom.Ĭaptured near Iceland in 1979, Keiko ended up in a marine park in Mexico. "They really do die quickly and there was nothing weĬould do," said Nick Braden, a spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States. Early in the evening, he passed away," said Mr Richards. "We checked his respiration rate and it was a little irregular. "He exhibited some signs of lethargy and lack of appetite," Mr Richards told the Associated Press. Keiko became ill very quickly, according to Dane Richards who looked after the mammal. Killer whales live an average of 35 years in the wild. Keiko was captured when two, but after the success of the film, he was freed from cramped conditions in Mexico City.Īfter his release into the wild in Iceland, Keiko swam to Norway, where he became a popular attraction. The six-ton whale apparently suffered a sudden bout of pneumonia in the fjord where he had been living. ![]() Keiko, the killer whale that starred in the film Free Willy, has died in Norway at the age of 27, 18 months after he was returned to the wild. Keiko became the world's most famous killer whale ![]()
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