Keiko: The Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy

Have seen and been dismissive of this largely expecting it to be another PETA type documentary that serves up another highly emotive and largely inaccurate picture of Keiko's freedom and happiness in the wild which they frequently do as though he lived in an underworld of rainbows and sunshine sprinkles. It's either that or doom mongers that make out he was tipped into the ocean and left to die.

For whatever reason I decided to watch it and was actually surprised to find it was an in-depth and interesting account of Keiko's initial capture, how he was unusually young to be taken from the wild - possibly the result of accident and opportunity than intentional taking of a calf not yet weaned. It features interviews and refreshingly honest details from reputable well known sources, marine biologists, anti captivity campaigners and individuals from the foundation who discuss Keiko's capture, life in captivity lived right through to what was a successful failure in efforts to release him entirely back into the wild.

There isn't the rose tinted emotive inaccuracies and actually, it provided info which really paints the marine park in Mexico where Keiko was found and Free Willy filmed in a much more positive light than I'd expected. It detailed how they were the only marine park that would even consider Warner Bros request to use their park and orca seemingly not worried or concerned about the political aspect of agreeing to be involved with a film highlighting the plight of captive orca.

Knowing they had to move Keiko sooner rather than later anyway as he was continuing to grow and already too big for their small tank, it would provide the financial means and resources to secure a better facility for him and allow them some extra money to make improvements overall in the park. For that they deserve absolute credit.

Prior to filming and with the benefit of the best veterinary professionals Warner Bros could afford, simple and relatively basic changes to how Keiko was cared for and kept made a massive difference i.e. Installing a chiller to keep the water at a cooler temp more suited to his needs, better quality of fish and advice / help ensuring water levels were kept continually monitored. That alone seemed to make drastic improvement to Keiko's health and whilst filming took place he remained in the same park and the same tank but with a considerably improved health and renewed energy levels and interest.

During filming he was completely engaged, interested, keen to work with the trainers and enjoyed the challenge and stimulation that daily filming brought.

Warner Bros saw fit to at least arrange for Keiko to be moved to a better facility that could care for him given the box office hit and money made from Free Willy which again I hadn't realised they started the ball rolling and secured an alternative where he was transferred. The difficulty seemed to be that neither they nor others that got on board and involved with his move realised the full extent, time, effort, expense and huge multi-disciplinary effort it would take to have him rehabilitated even to the point of being near ready for a sea pen sanctuary.

There is the definite feeling that because of the massive global campaign and media interest, the foundation reliant on public donations and Keiko's unusually young age at the time of capture, he would probably never have been a suitable candidate for a full release back into the wild.

With the benefit of hindsight 30yrs down the line it is apparent he would have been perfectly happy and probably enjoyed a good quality of life had he just remained in a sea pen / sanctuary under the care of humans.

It gives good insight into what could still happen for the remaining captive orca and other whales and dolphins if they are able to begin the process of transferring and being introduced to other facilities and eventually moved to sea pens and sanctuaries.

In reality very few if any captive orca will be suitable for a full release and reintegration back into the wild but they could all be given a new entirely improved quality of life, enjoy the swells and tides of the open ocean with vast areas to roam and remain under human care and supervision.

It was sad that Keiko never fully reintegrated or stayed with any pod despite following and attaching himself to more than one and for some time. He still seemed to need and crave human companionship most and in some ways must have felt abandoned and wondered what he did wrong particularity when legislation was introduced preventing him from being approached or interacted with in a similar way they did with Luna.

This documentary however doesn't just paint his last year or two as being perfect and rosy or lonely and alone. It just gives honest, insightful and very thought provoking information which if we took and used as a means of going forward and progressing from the captive marine parks as they are now, we could really make drastic improvements and maybe even redeem ourselves as humans righting some of the many wrongs for good measure.

Highly recommended hidden gem that's worth a watch.

I saw the movie "Free Willy" as a kid and enjoyed it.

Keiko was an amazing whale and helped change how humans treat and view whales, today. His legacy is remembered.

This is a good documentary that you should see.

When I was a teenager my parents took me California, and whilst there we went to sea world. Being young and naive I was fascinated.

However, as I began to grow up I realised how cruel these places are, and think no whale should ever be taken from the wild.

Seeing how these poachers take whales away from their families is heartbreaking. The mother circling the boats for her young is such a distressing thing to watch.

The videos of him in the little pool In Mexico are upsetting. He just looks so unhappy.

Thank goodness for Free Willy, because it was what saved him from that awful places.

Showing the lengths people went to them try to rehabilitate keiko to get him back to the wild is heartwarming.

And to know he was never just abandoned at sea really shows how much they cared for him.

Keiko is a hero, he got through so much and his legacy has went on to protect other whales.