Current Headlines

 Printer friendly version
Keiko:
Come On Home, Says Iceland's Prime Minister

10.06.1998;
Prime Minister David Oddsson of Iceland has given the green light for Keiko the killer whale to come home. In a letter yesterday to the Free Willy Keiko Foundation, Oddsson wrote that he sees "no reason to object to Keiko being brought to Iceland." Keiko was captured in Eskifjordur, in the east of Iceland, in 1979, when about two years old.

In another letter yesterday, this time from the Foundation to Oddsson, the Foundation wrote: "We look forward to your being with us on this adventure which will certainly receive worldwide attention and admiration."

The return of Keiko will surely provide a field day for the world's media, with abundant opportunities for Oddsson to share the spotlight. However, Oddsson insists that the Foundation "bears all costs." No problem, says the Foundation; "this is not a small nor inexpensive undertaking, but ... it will be fully funded and accomplished without the need for Icelandic governmental assistance."

There will be no resistance to the move from Iceland's Chief Veterinary Officer either, who this Monday submitted an opinion to the Ministry of Agriculture giving Keiko a clean bill of health.

Yet in 1992, a similar request from Sea World in San Diego to return the captive killer whale Tilikum to Iceland was turned down, and it was made clear at the time that no future requests would receive authorisation either.

The case of Tilikum was considered by Icelandic officials at the Ministries of Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Environment, and Agriculture, including the Chief Veterinary Officer and scientists at the Marine Research Institute, which then advised Fisheries Minister Thorsteinn Palsson.

In a memorandum to Palsson on 27 April 1992, the Marine Research Institute wrote that "it should be pointed out that in general, transfer of animals from one geographical area (or ecosystem) to another is of major concern within the marine sciences, particularly in relation to mariculture. The principal reason for this is the unknown consequences an introduction of new or 'foreign' organisms into a ecosystem can have on the system in general. In the present case, the question we have before us is whether it is wise to introduce a marine mammal from the North Pacific into Icelandic waters. Although such a transfer may not necessarily prove harmful to the environment, we simply don't know and probably will never know. It is also difficult to see a way to eliminate the risk such transfer evidently will have, because even microorganisms, which may be harmless in their original environment, may have serious effects when introduced to a new environment." In conclusion, the Marine Research Institute said that "a transfer of the killer whale in question seems not to be advisable when considering ... the potential consequences of the introduction of the animal into the marine environment off Iceland."

Based on this advice, amongst others, on 7 May 1992 Palsson wrote to Sea World: "It is evident the animal may carry diseases that are both undetectable and alien to killer whales and other animal populations in Icelandic waters. Therefore, the return of the animal would entail unquantifiable and unavoidable risks, which we are not willing to accept. (...) The factors that render the return of the killer whale, Tilikum, infeasible would apply to other killer whales that have been maintained in captivity outside of Iceland. Consequently, this Ministry and the other interested Ministries have concluded that neither the return of this killer whale, nor the return of others now in captivity, will be authorised."

And yet six years later Keiko is about to receive treatment denied to Tilikum, despite the fact that their cases are essentially identical.

"Obviously Prime Minister Oddsson and Fisheries Minister Palsson have very different views of the risks they can subject Iceland's fishing grounds to," says Rune Frøvik, secretary of the High North Alliance, to the High North Web News. "It is hard to see how a Fisheries Minister committed to safeguarding the lifeblood of his nation's economy can continue to serve under a Prime Minister more interested in adventure."

But Oddsson has the final say, and has taken a personal interest in Keiko. He has met with Foundation representatives three times in the last seven months, the most recent meeting being yesterday.

"This isn't about one whale," said Bob Ratliffe, executive director of the Foundation, to the Associated Press today. "It's about keeping a promise we made to children around the world. We are going to show them dreams can come true."

But Brad Andrews of Sea World, who asked Iceland in 1992 about the possible return of Tilikum, disagrees. "We've been misleading these schoolchildren all these years; maybe now's the time to start telling them the truth: that they should find a companion for him and keep him where he's at," he told the Associated Press.