triviageek

Keiko, the killer whale known as the star of the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters. He was 27. Millions of dollars have been spent during the past decade to retrain him to live in the wild again. Those efforts were partially sucessful. For the past year and a half he remained in the coastal waters off Norway where trainers continued efforts to coax him back to the open sea.

Instead, Keiko prefered to live in Taknes Bay, a clear, calm pocket of coastal water deep enough that it doesn't freeze in winter. Keepers fed him there, but he was free to roam and did, often at night.

Nick Braden, a spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States, said veterinarians gave Keiko antibiotics after he showed signs of lethargy Thursday, but it wasn't apparent how sick he was.

It's believed that he died due to a sudden onset of pneumonia.

"They really do die quickly and there was nothing we could do," he said.

Braden said "it's a really sad moment for us, but we do believe we gave him a chance to be in the wild."