`Free Willy' whale may be freed into Irish waters

Keiko the whale, star of the film Free Willy, may find a permanent retirement home in Ireland, according to his carers. The whale which featured in the 1993 film has spent the past three years in the waters around the Westman Islands off southern Iceland.

But the California-based Ocean Futures Society, which looks after the whale, sent representatives to Ireland and a number of other locations during the hunt for a suitable bay a number of years ago.

Mr Charles Vinick, executive vice president of Ocean Futures, said members of his staff had since returned to Ireland on a scouting mission - in case things do not work out for Keiko in Iceland.

"Because Ireland is such a dynamic place, we even looked at the area where you have the Dingle dolphin, but that's a little too active an environment for Keiko," he said.

Mr Vinick told The Irish Times his staff had been on the lookout for suitable sites in Ireland in case the world's most famous whale had to be relocated in the future.

He said he had just returned to Santa Barbara, California, after five months in Iceland with Keiko - "a terrific whale, wonderful to spend time with".

Mr Vinick said Keiko was happy in Iceland, where he was first captured 23 years ago.

"He is a north Atlantic killer whale so we looked at locations in the north Atlantic suitable to try. The best was Iceland where his ancestors were from and his family may still be."

However, Mr Vinick said it could become impossible to keep Keiko in Iceland.

"There are lots of reasons why it might - it's remote, expensive, a challenging long-term habitat."

The whale is undergoing a training programme with Ocean Futures, which aims to equip him for re-introduction into a pod of wild whales in an open ocean environment.

Mr Vinick said he was hopeful Keiko could go back and live freely in his native waters.

After Keiko's movie career went into decline, a Life magazine story revealed that he was living in unhealthy conditions in an amusement park in Mexico City. Millions of people expressed their concern and Keiko was nursed back to health by members of the Ocean Futures Society, whose president is Mr Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late oceanographer Jacques.

About 30 staff care for the whale and during more than 60 trips out of his pen this summer he was accompanied by a chartered fishing vessel, two support boats and a helicopter.