Free Willy whale may be released this year

taken from Associated Press

    Keiko, the movie-star killer whale, may be permanently released into the wild this year after more than two decades in captivity. The Free Willy star is feeding himself on live cod released into his pen in the Westman Islands, off southern Iceland, training team spokesman Hallur Hallson said at a press conference yesterday. The team almost released Keiko last summer, when he made 40 trips outside his pen. During those forays, he travelled about 965 kilometres and encountered wild orcas on 15 occasions, reinforcing hopes that he will eventually join a pod. Keiko spent longer and longer stints away from his trainers, but always returned. By the end of summer, the wild whales had moved on and Keiko was forced to spend the winter in his pen. Two New Brunswick companies - Maritime Aqua Service Ltd. and Cards Aquaculture Products Ltd. of Pennfield - worked on the pen.

Dead humpback found on Cape Breton

taken from - Canadian Press

   ST. PETER'S, N.S. - Federal fisheries officers are investigating the discovery of a 12-metre humpback whale found dead on the shore of this Cape Breton community.
    Residents reported the animal on Thursday but it may have been there since last weekend.
    Jerry Conway, marine mammal adviser for the Fisheries Department, said the whale may have to be buried.
   If buried, the carcass would take from six to seven years to deteriorate and then the remains - such as the skull, ribs, vertebrae, bones, flippers could be collected and mounted in an museum exhibit, he said.
   Mr. Conway said humpback whales have their own distinctive marking under the side of their tail. Officers will try to photograph this mark, then identify it through a catalog in the United States which lists about 2,000 of these markings.

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