Eugene OR shows

[dobesign]

Is anyone going to these? I haven't been to this show before. Any wonderful sights, or must visit things while I'm in Eugene?

[Elaine]

Eugene's a fabulous town... but there's not all that much to see there... you might check out the college, but after that I suggest you head west, to Florence, turn right at the Pacific Ocean and go north til you get to Yachats... pull over and enjoy the sunset. Then mosey on up to Newport and see what’s up at the aquarium.

My daughter and I saw Keiko there years ago... before he was flown to Iceland. I will never forget him... or what the Oregon people did for him, to give him a chance at a good life.

For those who don't know, Keiko was the Killer Whale in the movie Free Willy.

Youtube link to a great video of Keiko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEdgUnxawi8

Here is a summary of his story: http://explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa031000a.htm

December 12, 2003: Keiko died today.

... Born near Iceland in 1977 or 1978, Keiko was captured by Jon Gunnarson in 1979 and taken to Saedyrasfnid, an aquarium in Iceland. Three years later, he was purchased by the Marineland Theme Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

At Marineland, Keiko was trained to perform for the public, but also began to get sick, with skin lesions forming. In 1985, they sold him to Reino Aventura, an amusement park in Mexico City, for $350,000.

In 1992, Warner Bros. entered Keiko's life when they went to Reino Aventura to film "Free Willy", in which a killer whale is freed from an evil marine park owner. Publicity from the film eventually resulted in a feature in Life (November 1993) about the terrible conditions at Reino Aventura - Keiko was clearly dying, and efforts began to find him a new home. The work of the Earth Island Institute, an environmental advocacy group for marine animals, was instrumental in the eventual success of these efforts.

In November 1994, with $4 million donated by Warner Bros., New Regency productions and the McCaw Foundation, the Free Willy Foundation was formed. Later called the Free Willy Keiko Foundation, in March 1999 it merged with the Jean-Michel Cousteau Institute to become Ocean Futures. It is this new organization that is now in charge of taking care of Keiko.

Within 4 months of the formation of the Free Willy Foundation, Reino Aventura agreed to donate Keiko to the organization, and the foundation and the Oregon Coast Aquarium partnered to build a $7.3 million pool to house him. It was completed in December 1995, and shortly after, United Parcel Service (UPS) delivered Keiko to Newport, Oregon, using a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Keiko thrived at the new facility, gaining 1,900 pounds in his first 18 months there.

There have now been 3 "Free Willy" movies, and each one resulted in increased pressure to get Keiko a better life. That initially meant getting him out of Mexico, but the focus soon turned to the possibility of actually setting him free, as in the movies. The movies are "Free Willy", "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" and "Free Willy 3: The Rescue". As well, there is a documentary film available, The Free Willy Story: Keiko's Journey Home.

In 1997, it was decided to attempt to reintroduce Keiko to the ocean. The location eventually chosen was Klettsvik Bay, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. It offered a fairly sheltered location close to his place of birth, and one that would be possible to enclose with a net while 'training' Keiko to live on his own. The photo to the right shows Keiko being lowered into Klettsvik Bay in September 1998.

Vestmannaeyjar (the Westmann Islands) is an archipelago, made up of 15 larger islands and at least 30 islets, located just off the south coast of Iceland. In 1967, the eruption of the Surtsey volcano, and in 1973, of Eldfell, on Heimaey, the largest of the islands, brought Vestmannaeyjar to the world's attention. Now, interest in Keiko has again focussed a great deal of attention on Heimaey in particular (map and photo)

Moving Keiko to Vestmannaeyjar was not an easy task. The only aircraft in the world capable of hauling a 35,000-pound load and landing on a 3,900-foot airstrip is the C-17 Globemaster (photo to the left). The Free Willy Keiko Foundation hired the US Air Force, at a cost of about $300,000, to make the flight. On September 9, 1998, Keiko was transferred back to Iceland.

A crucial component of Keiko's care since arriving in Iceland has been the pen he lives in. Designed by Fathom23 in Washington State, it is 250 feet long, 100 feet wide and 24 feet deep, making it the largest of its type ever built. Click on the photo of the pen to the right to enlarge it. This enclosure, now termed the baypen, has every feature that could be thought of for Keiko's welfare, from a huge cradle lift for medical exams, to a zippered door that would make his release into the bay easy.

In January 2000, the whole of Klettsvik Bay was cordoned off with a net, to give Keiko about 800,000 square feet to explore. The net, 925 feet long, was specially designed for the extreme conditions found at the mouth of the bay. Extreme tidal currents and surges are common, but it has also withstood winds of up to 130 miles per hour since Keiko's arrival.

On March 3, 2000, Keiko had his first swim in the open bay.

Keiko is still dependent upon humans for his food, and therefore his life. He still clearly enjoys the company of humans. Will he ever make the transition back to his real home? Only time will tell.

Around the world, zoos and aquariums are coming under increasing pressure for their treatment of animals. While they provide wonderful educational opportunities that cannot be duplicated any other way, is the cost to the animals acceptable? From zoo volunteers to animal rights militants, the range of opinions is enormous - what do you think?




OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters where he remained after millions of dollars and a decade of work failed to coax him back to the open sea, his caretakers said early Saturday.

The whale, who was 27, died Friday afternoon after the sudden onset of pneumonia in the Taknes fjord. He was old for an orca in captivity, though wild orca live an average of 35 years.

David Phillips, executive director of the San Francisco-based Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, said Keiko had been in good health but started showing signs of lethargy and loss of appetite on Thursday.

"This is a long sad day for us," Phillips said.

One of his handlers, Dale Richards, also said Keiko died quickly. "We checked his respiration rate and it was a little irregular ... he wasn't doing too well," Richards told The Associated Press. "Early in the evening, he passed away."
Keiko -- which means "Lucky One" in Japanese -- was captured in Iceland in 1979 and sold to the marine park industry.

Starting in 1993, the six-ton, 35-foot-long mammal starred in three "Free Willy" movies, a heartwarming box-office franchise from Warner Brothers in which sympathetic humans help set a long-captive killer whale free.

The drive for the real-life reintroduction of the movies' star started after he was found ailing in a Mexico City aquarium. ...

Keiko was rehabilitated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, then airlifted to Iceland in 1998. His handlers there prepared him for the wild, teaching him to catch live fish.

Keiko was released from Iceland in July 2002, but he swam straight for Norway on an 870-mile trek that seemed to be a search for human companionship.

He first turned up near the village of Halsa in late August or early September of 2002. There, he allowed fans to pet and play with him, even crawl on his back, becoming such an attraction that animal protection authorities imposed a ban on approaching him.

Keiko lived in Taknes Bay, a clear, calm pocket of coastal water deep enough that it doesn't freeze in winter. Keepers fed him there, but he was free to roam and did, often at night.

He was equipped with a VHF tracking device that let his four handlers pinpoint his location provided he stayed within a range of about five miles.
Keiko's keepers said the whale seemed to adapt to living in the wild despite so many years in captivity, learning to slap his tail and do jumps called side breaches that are typically done to stun fish.

To keep Keiko in shape, his caretakers took him on "walks," leading him around the fjords from a small boat at least three times a week.
Nick Braden, a spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States, said veterinarians gave Keiko antibiotics after he showed signs of lethargy Thursday, but it wasn't apparent how sick he was.
"They really do die quickly and there was nothing we could do," he said.