Death
Keiko died in Taknes Bay, Norway while under the care of personnel from The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation on December 12, 2003, at about 27 years of age. Pneumonia was later determined as his probable cause of death. Following requests from fans of the orca and Free Willy, the Oregon Coast Aquarium held a memorial service for him on February 20, 2004. 700 people attended the service, during which Thomas Chatterton, a veterinary chaplain said, "Keiko was not one of our kind but nonetheless, was still one of us."
There is a memorial site for Keiko set up by the locals in Halsa, Norway. Norwegian school children built a stone cairn to mark the spot where he is buried.
Read more about this topic: Keiko (orca)
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but an immense altar on which every living thing must be sacrificed without end, without restraint, without respite until the consummation of the world, the extinction of evil, the death of death.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)
“Taking a child to the toy store is the nearest thing to a death wish parents can have.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Oh, you cold-blooded English. You’ll be the death of me.”
—Norman Reilly Raine (1895–1971)