Keiko's Legacy

[Keiko, Oregon, 1996]

In 1979, when Keiko was about 2 years old, he was taken from his family by the marine circus industry where he spent the next 17 years of his life performing from concrete tanks in Mexico and Canada. During his time with the marine circus he was filmed in the famous "Free Willy" movie.

In 1994 the Earth Island Institute founded the Free Willy Keiko Foundation and spent the next two years raising funds to have him flown to a special recovery pool in Oregon, in 1996.

Most of the rest of Keiko's story is known around the world, and continues to be told, even after his death in 2003, as a free orca.

Endgangered Species

During a span of five years, in the 1990's, the population of the Southern Resident orcas declined by over 20%.

On July 1, 2002, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that the 85 Southern Resident orcas left in the world, were not significant enough to protect through the ESA, but in 2003 U.S. District Court found the announcement unlawful. In December of 2004, the NMFS proposed to add the orcas to the Endangered Species list.

The NMFS is now taking public comment and will put final protection for the orcas in place within one year.

Now that the orcas are on the verge of protection, the U.S. Goverment is considering a reform of the Endangered Species Act that could repeal the protection of animals on the list. There are currently a number of proposals in Congress that would severely weaken the ESA.

- H.R. 2933
- H.R. 1662
- S 2009

..........

If you are interested in the enviroment (including wildlife), please take a moment to check out the ~GreenDA community which promotes conservation and educating the public about enviromental challenges that are being faced around the world today.