Dearly Blubbered

A memorial service will be held in Oregon Coast Aquarium this week for the biggest film star of all time, Keiko the Orca. The star of such films as Free Willy and, er, Free Willy 2, was buried in a private ceremony on December 15th after dying of pneumonia at the age of 26. The 20 February service will include a eulogy by a chaplain, remembrances by former keepers, a retrospective photo exhibition and a memory book. Keiko lived at the Aquarium for two years at the height of his stardom between 1996 and 1998. His time in Oregon, and then in Iceland, prepared Keiko for his release into the wild in 2002. Upon retirement from the film business, Keiko swam 870 miles around Iceland to a place near the village of Halsa, where he made a home for himself.