Agency Plunges Into Whale Spat Movie Star’s Health, Treatment Argued By Owners, Aquarium

The federal government on Tuesday stepped into the feud between the owners of Keiko the movie-star whale and the aquarium where he lives.

The killer whale’s health and treatment have become the subject of dissent between the two groups. Keiko starred in two “Free Willy” movies and was moved to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport in 1996 from a Mexico City amusement park.

Keiko has been treated recently for parasites, believed to be a function of eating live fish, a bacterial infection and a respiratory ailment.

He has gained weight since his transfer from Mexico, and a skin disease that apparently came from his artificially salinated warm-water tank in Mexico has largely vanished.

The U.S. Agriculture Department’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service said it supported a proposal by the aquarium and the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association that an independent team of veterinarians evaluate the whale.

In a letter dated Oct. 17, the service suggested that the medical team be picked by the aquarium, the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the federal inspection service.

The foundation, however, said it was satisfied with previous examinations of Keiko’s health. And in any case, spokeswoman Diane Hammond said, the foundation wants nothing to do with the aquarium.

“We are not going to work cooperatively with (the aquarium) to pull together an advisory panel” she said from Newport. “We are very satisfied with the four doctors’ evaluations done already.”

Hammond said the aquarium continues to attack the foundation. “They have not offered information to back up their claims that things are amiss,” she said.

The aquarium says it is aware of only three examinations and claims none of the doctors involved was independent.

“We are ready and willing to support the USDA proposal,” said aquarium president Phyllis Bell.

She said the aquarium has for some time supported an evaluation team picked by people with no ties to the foundation or to the aquarium.

“We feel that, with the added support of government officials, we can finally get Keiko the checkup he deserves and put this matter to rest,” she said in a statement issued Tuesday.

The foundation has controlled Keiko’s medical and rehabilitation program since July 1.

The foundation says it wants to return Keiko to the wild. Many close to his care question whether that is advisable since he has lived virtually all of his life in captivity and might not be able to survive.

The Agriculture Department said Keiko’s specially built tank at the aquarium passed a surprise inspection earlier this month, as it has each inspection since he arrived. It said Keiko “appeared to be in good health.”

But a department official disputed the foundation’s claim that the federal agency had approved of “every aspect of the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation’s rehabilitation program and facility.”

Bob Gibbens, regional director of the inspection service in Sacramento, Calif., said inspectors did not assess Keiko’s rehabilitation program.