Atlantica - 01.06.2001, Side 42

40 A T L A N T I C A
tures.com) gets thousands of hits a day
following Keiko’s progress. His popular-
ity being so huge, two additional Free
Willy movies were produced using ani-
mated whales. Like the first movie,
these too were moneymakers.
Keiko’s return to Iceland is controver-
sial. The nation, with a strong fishing
economy, cannot understand the fuss.
One malcontent sent a bizarre death
threat letter warning Keiko would be
poisoned. Fortunately, it proved to be a
prank. Still, the Keiko project strikes
many in this stark country as an outra-
geous waste of money.
“Whales are a renewable resource
that we want to manage and harvest in
a sustainable manner,” says Jóhann
Sigurjónsson, a whale fishery scientist
and director of the Marine Research
Institute in Reykjavík. “We don’t accept
that some animals in the ecosystem are
holier than others.”
BYE-BYE KEIKO
This summer, Íslandslax, an experimen-
tal salmon farm, plans to set up opera-
tions just one hundred metres from
Keiko’s quarters. Last winter, the ice
plant at Heimaey was ravaged by fire,
leaving 140 people unemployed. Árni
Johnsen, a member of parliament from
the Westman Islands, says Íslandslax
could employ as many as forty people.
“It would be a wonderful thing,“
Johnsen says.
Although officials say Keiko’s stay in
the bay shouldn’t conflict with the
salmon farm, and rhapsodise it can all
be worked out, Iceland’s daily newspa-
per Morgunbladid was less sanguine. In
a cartoon addressed to Gudni Ágústs-
son, Minister of Agriculture, it admon-
ished: “Kiss Keiko (goodbye already).”
Keiko’s scheduled ocean-walks have
already begun, yet it’s still unclear as to
whether Keiko is ready to swim off on
his own.
While Keiko’s caretakers hope he will
leave for good, the children of Vest-
mannaeyjar (Westman Islands) will miss
him. “They like Keiko being here,” says
Gudjón Hjörleifsson, mayor of the
island. “He’s been good publicity for
Iceland and created jobs and revenue.
He’s been an addition to the island,
though not the attraction he was in the
United States. But he was never meant
to be the ‘Keiko’ show. He was sched-
uled to stay a certain period of time and
swim free. The time is past.”
And what’s going to happen to Keiko
if he can’t cut being a real-life whale?
“Not to worry,” says Hallur Hallson. “No
matter what Keiko decides to do, we will
always take care of him.”
Roberta Ostroff is a freelance writer living in
Akranes, west Iceland.
KEIKO
Keiko’s return to Iceland is controver-
sial. The nation, with a strong fishing
economy, cannot understand the fuss.
It’s hoped that one day Keiko will bid farewell to the picturesque Klettsvík cove. Seapen in background.
036-040 ATL 3/01KEIKO-rm 19.6.2001 17:20 Page 40