Keiko buried in secret ceremony
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Keiko, the killer whale star of the "Free Willy" movies, was buried Monday in a snow-bound pasture during the deep darkness of Nordic winter in a ceremony kept secret from the public.
"We wanted to let him be at peace," said Dane Richards, one of his caretakers. "He's free now and in the wild."
Normally, Norwegian fisheries authorities would order the remains of a large sea mammal towed to sea and sunk in deep water. However, they acted quickly during the weekend to give Keiko's backers, which included the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation and the Human Society of the United States, permission to bury the celebrity on land.
Cory thinks this is stupid. So does Robin. So do I.
But then Robin reminded me of the famous Exploding Whale video.
http://www.thesakeofargument.com/archives/000369.html>Joe Kelley Said
What an outrageous and amusing load of rubbish!
This is really a case of self-loathing tree huggers who couldn’t stand the thought of having the image of their prized killer whale being broadcast or photographed dead.
Keiko’s bloated body being dragged by his tail by a backhoe across rocks and land would be an embarrassing picture of failure for the do-gooders who spent $20 million trying to teach the whale that the only proper lifestyle is one of hating humans.
They buried him in secret because they were mortified at their own personal failure, not out of some sort of attempt at whale dignity.
What a curious tribute to the ocean ecosystem that they’ve professed their love and admiration for by burying him on land. In doing so, they’ve denied fish and marine life (both large and small) food that would continue to provide a fertile habitat that would give life to other wild Orcas.
Posted by: Liz | Tuesday, December 30, 2003 at 09:37 AM